Aftermath
by The Frisky Firelily
Summary: Sequel to The Chosen One. The crew of Serenity have survived the horrors of Miranda, but the 'verse is a big place, and there those who want use the Slayer for their own malicious ends. They may have survived the battle, but what about the war?
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER:** Not mine.

**A/N: **Apparently I lack any semblance of self-control when it comes to writing about these characters. This is the sequel to The Chosen One, which really has to be read first or this won't make any sense!

Adelei Niska surveyed the man in front of him. Dr Charles Wu was a relic from the now obsolete Academy, as were the rest of his medical team. The man was thin and pale, his sharp eyes and oily black hair giving the impression of an underfed rat looking for its next meal. And in some ways Niska supposed he was.

The Miranda broad wave had shouted out the failings of the Alliance one year ago, and since then the Government had fallen. Core worlds and Rim worlds alike were continuing the slow process of rebuilding the system, and the 'verse was still on edge, tense and ready. Dr Wu had been one of a team of fifteen who escaped before the raids on the Academy had taken place, taking with them any information they could carry and destroying the rest before disappearing into hiding.

It had taken Niska eight long months to discover them, eight long months to bring them onto his payroll. The decimation of the Alliance had cost him dearly, his contacts in the Government no longer available to provide protection for his corrupt dealings, and his business had come close to ruin.

That is until the discovery of an ancient Academy record and a now redacted warrant. He smiled as he remembered discovering the lucrative concept of psychic assassins, knowing full well that his remaining contacts would welcome an army of highly trained killers ready to dispatch, and would pay through the nose to get them. Even more enticing was the fact that the warrant had been for one River Tam, last seen with the crew of Serenity.

Niska scowled as he thought of the trouble Reynolds had once wreaked on his space station. Following the broad wave there had been many attempts to get the "Heroes of Miranda" to go public, attempts that failed continuously. Reynolds' sense of survival was too strong – Niska knew he wouldn't allow his crew to be discovered, wouldn't allow any remaining enemies to exploit their resources. And if the reports were true there were several other small but treasured reasons why Reynolds was keeping his crew and himself hidden.

Reports of ships launching attacks on Reaver territories were bright dots of hope – Niska knew that one day Reynolds' would slip, and on that day he would be waiting.

He was drawn out of his reverie by a polite cough from Dr Wu. "Yes Charles, you haff news for me?" Wu nodded, his face remorseful. "We have lost another potential Mr Niska – he couldn't survive the neural stripping."

Niska frowned. "Zis procedure vas done to others – why does it now fail"? Wu shrugged. "We can't find a candidate strong enough to cope with the stripping and the combat training combined. Their brains are shutting down before we can complete the procedure. We can't keep them alive long enough to be of any use."

Niska narrowed his eyes. "River Tam is still alive, and she survived ze procedures." Wu sighed, this argument was a frequent one. "Sir I've explained before; Tam was something else. No other candidate has ever responded to the stripping like she did, and her body took to the training unlike anything we've ever seen. She was an anomaly."

Niska raised one eyebrow thoughtfully. "Or an answer. Perhaps if ve had her ve could find out vat makes her so special?" Wu nodded. "Yes, she'd be invaluable, but nobody has been able to find Reynolds or his crew. They're like some kind of legend Sir - people all over the 'verse have their own stories about them. There are even whispers of a monster on board, but still nobody knows where they are. How can we possibly capture Tam when we don't even know where she is?"

"Maybe I can help with that." The man in the doorway was tall and dark skinned, his flashing brown eyes holding a hint of madness that interested Niska. "Really? You sink you can catch a member of the infamous Serenity?"

The man smiled, the sharp look heightened by the intensity in his eyes. "I almost did once, an' I'm hankerin' for a second round." Niska waved one hand dismissively. "I haff no interest in employing an outside consultant for a spy, especially one who has failed in the past."

The man's smile didn't falter. "Seems ta me we can help each other out. You want the girl, an' I still need ta catch me a Slayer. No fee, no charge. I jus' need a ship."

Niska narrowed his eyes at the man's overly generous proposal. "Who are you?"

That terrifying smile grew sharper.

"Early. Jubal Early."

**A/N: **Well howdy kids, how're we travelling so far?


	2. Chapter 2

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **This is taking place about two and a half years post the Miranda broad wave, just FYI.

Crystal Gundry was bored. The bar was packed and rowdy but none of her usual customers were here tonight, and if she didn't find one soon she wouldn't have the cash for the Crymeth she needed to forget. The drug was cheap, easily accessible and highly addictive, but the wild craving was warming her blood, her skin blushing as early withdrawal began to set in. She twirled a strand of flaming red hair around her finger, liking the way it contrasted sharply with her royal blue dress.

At 25 she was already the highest paid whore on this good for nothing rock, her relaxed policies on protection and reputation as an 'anything goes' type of girl meaning she rarely had to work hard to find bed mates. But tonight she just couldn't seem to catch a break.

First there had been a slim man with dark hair who had sputtered his refusal, his Core accent sounding strangely out of place on the Rim world of Hybris. Then there had been the inebriated man with the reddish blonde hair who'd laughed loudly at her proposition, her responding glare unnoticed as he headed back to his table whilst muttering about warrior women.

She sighed, frustrated, looking to her blonde companion. They were leaning against the far wall, the best place to watch for any likely customers. Mina Ying was still fresh faced enough that she couldn't recognise the early symptoms of Crymeth addiction, but her body could. She had the gaunt, hungry look user always wound up with, and Crystal rolled her eyes. The girl was going to get herself in trouble one of these days if she didn't start working a little harder for her cash.

The blonde girl's eyes suddenly narrowed and Crystal turned her head in the direction of the record machine. Tall and broad shouldered he stood half a foot taller than any man in the rest of the room, his muscled body leant comfortably against the wall behind him as he spoke to a man with brown hair. His white teeth contrasted with his tanned skin, the goatee and tattoo giving him the kind of dangerous edge that set women's hearts fluttering.

Mina let out a breath. "Well if that ain't one tall drink o' water." Crystal nodded in agreement. "Sure is, but don't be gettin' yer hopes up." Mina looked at her quizzically as Crystal smiled and adjusted the low front of her dress.

She lowered her voice to the husky tone customers always responded to. "This one's mine."

She waited a moment for the brown haired man to head back to table, the tall man moving towards the bar. She was halfway to the bar when her previous rejections suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her path.

She released a sigh of frustration. "Sorry boys, I'm lookin' elsewhere now." The slim man nodded. "Yes, we know, we thought we'd come over and stop you making a mistake." Crystal raised one eyebrow. "I ain't needin' yer help ta find a customer."

The blonde man chuckled under his breath. "We know, we just thought we'd tell you that that particular customer wasn't a great option, largely cuz of her."

Crystal looked at where he was pointing. The brown haired man was sitting at a table with four women. One was dark skinned, her leather ensemble and straight posture marking her as some kind of military. The woman beside her had skin like warm gold, large black eyes and rich curls making her look very out of place in the filthy bar. The woman with the light brown curls and sweetheart face was talking animatedly with the fourth girl at whom the blonde man was pointing. She was a skinny little thing who didn't look a day over 19, her thin arms looking pale against her dark blue dress, her long dark hair obscuring her face.

Crystal rolled her eyes. "Funny, real funny. I ain't backin' down cuz you reckon some scrawny teenager might get sad 'bout her crush findin' a good time." She pushed past them and kept moving towards the bar.

Simon looked at Wash. "Well, we tried. Now what should we do?" Wash looked thoughtful for a moment. "Drink more, sit back and watch the fireworks?" Simon smiled and nodded, following the pilot to the table.

Mal had one arm slung around the back of Inara's chair, his voice warmed with the whiskey he'd been drinking. "Well ain't this shiny? Been a long time since we've been able ta go fer a night out." Inara rolled her eyes. "Yes, the grimiest bar on Hybris is just what I had in mind." Her words were laced with sarcasm but she couldn't hid the smile that crossed her face when Mal leant in and gave her a wet kiss on the cheek. Never one for overt public displays of affection, the little gestures still made her toes curl.

Kaylee moved so Simon could sit in next to her. "You reckon Book is doing alright?" Zoe smirked. "Let's hope so, might be hard ta convince him ta do it again if he ain't."

River was watching the redhead approach Jayne at the bar. The woman's thought were sticky and yellow, the overly sweet scent of addiction simmering under the surface of her coiffed appearance like a sickness. River could smell desperation, as well hunger for the big man. She stood gracefully, moving slowly to the bar.

Crystal 'accidently' bumped into the large man who was still waiting on some drinks. "Oh my, sorry handsome! Reckon I could buy ya a drink ta apologise?"

The man turned sharp blue eyes at her before flicking them back to the bar. "Ain't interested." Crystal frowned before turning a sultry smile on him, laying one hand on his thick bicep. "Well maybe I could make it up ta ya some other way?"

The man's eyes flicked to her hand on his arm, and she thought for the briefest of moments his eyes swirled red. As soon as she thought she'd seen it she suppressed a laugh at the ridiculous thought. Withdrawals playing with her brain no doubt.

Suddenly he smiled, a sharp look that sent shivers down her spine. Before she could respond she felt something cool touch the hand she still had on his arm, wrapping around her wrist in a vice-like grip. A pale hand attached to a thin arm came into view, and Crystal recognised the skinny girl from the table. She hadn't seen her face properly from across the room, but it was now right in front of her.

Fine bone structure, porcelain skin and pink lips were offset by those eyes. The whiskey brown eyes stared at her evenly, but held such swirling darkness in them that it made Crystal swallow heavily. The girl's voice was very calm, too calm. "Inadvisable. Please do not proposition husband."

The youthfulness of the voice politely telling her to back off snapped Crystal out of the trance those brown orbs induced, and she narrowed her eyes at the younger girl. "Why don't you go back to yer friends honey, the grownups are talkin'."

She turned back to the man with a seductive smile, turning her body away from the girl. But her wrist was still held in that iron grip, a grip that suddenly became tighter and more painful. She turned back to the girl with a start, the thin teenager looking at her darkly, the grip becoming tighter with every second until it brought Crystal to her knees, a cry of pain escaping her throat.

She waited for her bones to shatter when suddenly the girl released her, the movement sending her tumbling onto her behind. Crystal heard the laughter of other bar patrons, and her face went red as the jeers started. "Ohhh, watch out Crystal, don't make the lil girl mad."

She glared up at the girl, who looked at her impassively, and Crystal noticed the big man had wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to his chest. His eyes glittered with amusement. "Told ya I weren't interested."

They walked away, heading back to the table where their companions were still seated. Crystal pulled herself to her feet, her face still dark with anger as she strode back past Mina and into the bathroom.

Mal glared as Jayne seated himself, placing the drinks on the table and pulling River into his lap. "That there is jus' the kind o' attention we've been avoidin'." Jayne shrugged, watching as River rubbed her ring finger possessively over the matching silver band adorning his own. "Ain't my fault Cap'n, she's the one that gets all possessive."

River didn't look away from their matching bands of silver. "Inappropriate, playing with property she holds not claim to; lessons must be taught." Wash smirked. "That her way of sayin' she saved you from the big scary whore?"

The table erupted into laughter, even Jayne joining in as he retorted. "Yeah like yer wife wouldn't be doin' the same thing?" Zoe looked thoughtful for a moment. "I probably would've punched her."

More laughter followed as the crew settled in to enjoy the rest of their evening. The new additions to the ship meant the couples of Serenity loved the rare slice of free time, and the men especially were enjoying the bar's liquid offerings. It was a few hours later when River's head suddenly snapped up.

Her voice was low. "Trouble." Jayne looked guilty as he removed the hand he'd placed on her slim thigh, his fingers intent on trailing up her smooth skin. "Sorry baby." She looked at him like he was a boob. "No. Trouble." The crew followed her eyes to where the same red headed whore from earlier was approaching their table flanked by two burly bouncers.

She pointed at Jayne, smirking nastily. "That's him done gone an' refused ta pay, took a whole hour an' then said he weren't good fer the money." Simon's voice was angry. "Are you mad? He's been with us the whole time; his wife is sitting on his lap!"

The two bouncers had heard that sort of thing before, and Mal stood when they began to advance. "Hang on now, ain't no need fer this ta get nasty. Jus' a big misunderstandin' is all." His words were to no avail and the bouncer closest to Jayne reached out to grab the merc.

Big mistake.

River's hand shot out as she stood, turning her body quickly and flipping the bouncer into the nearest wall. Jayne was standing too, quickly grabbing the other bouncer and knocking him out with a punch. The fight was drawing bystanders now, Crystal having fled back to the bar at the first signs of violence. Other patrons began to join in and Mal sighed as he leant back in his chair.

Inara and Kaylee stayed seated, still sipping delicately at their drinks as their crewmates began to tear through the bar. Not one member of the crew felt the need to intervene, not after having watched the violent couple perform this particular dance so many times before. River swept the legs out from one patron, standing and aiming a lethal kick to the head of another.

Jayne threw two men straight through a back wall, turning in time to stop another from bottling him. However he didn't see the fourth man sneak up behind him with a vicious looking hunting blade, and the sharp pain in his side caused his face to change.

Crystal stared as where once there were blue eyes and a handsome visage there were now prominent brow ridges, glaring red eyes and lethal looking fangs. He snarled and shook it off, his face returning to normal, but the damage was done. The crew leapt to their feet, bolting out the door through the path that River and Jayne quickly created.

They all took back to the ship at a run, slowing only when they were sure they weren't being followed. Wash was panting heavily. "You reckon anybody saw that?" Mal glared at Jayne, punching him in the shoulder. "Ya couldn'ta kept yerself lookin' gorram normal durin' the fight?"

Jayne rounded on him. "Didn't see ya standing up ta help us out." Mal took a breath, calming himself. "After what I've seen you two do I can't say I'm liable ta step inta a fight with ya – ain't like ya can't handle yer own self. But I shouldn'ta snapped at ya."

Jayne calmed down almost immediately. They'd been through a lot in the last few years and both men knew their tempers ran hot until one or the other calmed things down. It was a somewhat volatile system but it worked for them.

The group headed back to the ship in silence, Inara resting her head on Mal's shoulder as they walked, Zoe and Wash holding hands at the back of the group while Simon and Kaylee walked with their arms wrapped around each other.

Jayne's blood was still heated from the fight, and he looked sideways at River, who gave him an innocent smile made filthy by the eyebrow she raised. He smirked, sweeping her up into his arms and whispering in her ear. "Girlie jus' you wait til I get ya ta our bunk." She breathed into his ear, the movement sending shivers down his spine as she nipped at the lobe. The small wound in his side was healing already and the feel of her slim body in his arms was enough to speed up his steps.

Their plans were destroyed, however, at the sight of the ship they returned to. The cargo bay was littered with toys and child's clothing and as they progressed into the galley the sight that greeted them stopped them all dead.

Book was sitting in the very centre of the couch, his body covered with five sleeping children. Twins Jason and Derrial Washburne, the oldest children in the group, were tucked under either arm. Jack Reynolds was slumped across Book's legs, Marina Tam using one thigh as a pillow. And there, curled in the very centre of Book's chest was Lily Cobb, her large brown eyes blinking happily at the sight of her parents.

Wash pressed a hand to his mouth to stop the laughter escaping. The table was covered in food, the kitchen sink full of dishes, and Book's eyes were wide and terrified. His voice came out harsh and low, an angry whisper so as not to disturb his sleeping bundles.

"Help me!"

Jayne stepped forward and collected his baby girl, smiling when the one year old gave him a happy burble as he tucked her against his shoulder. Kaylee carefully picked up the sleeping Marina while Inara plucked her son from Book's lap. Finally the Washburnes collected their sleepy sons, neither two year old waking as they were lifted into their parents arms.

As the children were carried to bed by their parents Mal sat down heavily next to Book, the older man looking a little queasy. "Really? That bad? We weren't gone more'n a few hours."

Book glared at him. "One of them is a delight, two of them I can handle, but all five?" Mal laughed as he rose, heading in the direction that Inara took his daughter. Only River was left in the room, a slight smile gracing her face.

She stepped forward, bending down to place a quick kiss on Book's cheek. "Thank you, Grandpa." He gave her a mock glare. "Off with you." She smirked, following her massive husband and baby girl.

Book picked up a tiny pink sock that had gotten lodged between the seat cushion, and couldn't help the small smile that graced his face.

"Grandpa indeed."

* * *

"You're sure?" The red head nodded at the dark stranger in front of her. "I'll remember it til the day I die. Face like a gorram monster, they tore up the whole bar. Weren't more'n a week ago."

She never felt the shot that landed between her eyes, her body slumping forward onto the table, a pool of blood slowly spreading over the white surface. Jubal smiled to himself as holstered his weapon. A year and a half of searching and he was finally getting somewhere.

"Ain't long now Slayer, ain't long now."

**A/N: **How're we travelling? Should I do a little key of the children of Serenity (i.e names and ages?) I know I always use the names Jason and Lily – I have no bloody idea why, I just can't call them anything else. I hope it's not really off putting or confusing. Please let me know :S


	3. Chapter 3

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine

Mal rose as quietly as possible, dressing quickly and heading for the door. He turned around at the last minute to look at the sleeping bodies on the bed. As with every morning for the last two years, he couldn't quite believe his eyes. Inara lay in the centre of the bed, her body curled around the much smaller one of his son. Jack Reynolds was the absolute apple of his father's eye. The little boy had his mother's black eyes and warm skin, but his brown hair and easy smile came straight from his father.

He was almost two, and his little legs had carried him to his parents bunk when he'd been woken by a nightmare. Even half asleep Mal couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes, and he'd let the boy scramble between them, wrapping his arms around Inara and their son. Mal had never in his life thought that he'd be looking at a child of his own and a beautiful woman who loved him. Well, most of the time.

It was perfect, wonderful, he was obscenely lucky.

And if he was really, really quiet, he could sneak out before bath time.

* * *

Mal followed his nose to the kitchen where Simon and Jayne already sat, both of their hands wrapped around a cup of coffee each. They simply nodded a greeting before returning to their quiet conversation, and Mal was relieved to find there was still liquid in the coffee pot. As he poured and sat down he looked at his doctor and merc.

Simon looked tired, dark circles rimming his eyes. Marina, the second youngest child on the ship, was an absolute sweetheart except when she was hungry. Then her little face, heart shaped like her mother's, would pull into a terrible pout, and life was grow quite unpleasant until she was fed.

Mal nodded at Simon. "Rough night?" Simon gave the tired smile of a father who still wouldn't trade his dark circles and exhaustion for the world. "I thought medical school was brutal, this parent thing is a lot harder."

Jayne opened his mouth to reply when Zoe entered, trailed by Jason. The little boy was quiet and stoic like his mother, his dark hair and bright blue eyes usually solemn. He was a decidedly undemanding child, easy going and endlessly tolerant of his maniacal brother. Derrial entered with Wash, his mischievous eyes flashing around the room looking for trouble as he held his father's hand. The two identical boys had very different personalities, and the dark cast to Jason's chosen clothing contrasted sharply with the little Hawaiian shorts his brother wore.

The Washburne twins had been the first children born on Serenity, and Mal had been surprised with how quickly and easily the crew had adjusted to their presence. Derrial was a delightful child, bright and funny like his father, and his antics amused the entire crew. Jason too was very much adored, the quiet little boy standing silently by his mother most days; although he had been known to get dragged into his brother's schemes before.

The last time that had happened they'd had no hot water for a week.

Zoe offered a quiet greeting, moving to the kitchen to fix breakfast for her two sons while Wash poured them each a cup of coffee. The pilot picked up Derrial seconds before the little boy could open the cupboard containing their alcohol supply, easily throwing his son over his shoulder and distracting him with a bounce.

Conversation was light and infrequent so early in the morning and when River entered with a smiling Lily there were only smiles of greeting. The Reader kissed her husband on the cheek, placing the little girl in her father's lap. As the youngest child on Serenity Lily was the darling of the ship. Bright brown eyes and dark curly hair made her a carbon copy of her mother, and she had Jayne wrapped around her little finger.

She turned in his lap, facing the table and sticking one hand straight in the bowl of protein River set before her. Jayne was unfazed when she turned and tried to glop the gluggy substance on his shirt, simply catching her hand and pretending to bite her little fingers. Her tinkly little laugh rang over the table, and she was suitably distracted from her mission to paint her father.

River sat down beside Jayne, placing another cup of coffee in front of her tired brother. Simon smiled gratefully at her, nodding a greeting to his little niece who was now humming happily while Jayne fed her breakfast. Book entered, bending to receive good morning kisses from Jason and Derrial.

Despite the terror of babysitting the night before Book completely adored the children on the boat. He moved over to where Jayne sat, tickling Lily under the chin before sitting down next to Simon. They enjoyed a few moments of quiet eating before a loud shriek rang through the ship.

In ran a bubble covered Jack, his little legs pumping as he bolted through the galley. Mal raised an eyebrow when a soaking wet Inara entered moments later looking furious. "Why is my son naked and running through the ship?" The glare he received could freeze boiling water, and the usually graceful ex-Companion spoke tartly to her partner. "Because, Malcolm, instead of getting _my_ charming personality our son has been blessed with yours, and he thinks it is hilarious to escape the tub when I'm trying to bathe him. And don't think I didn't notice you sneaking out – you know it was your day to wash him."

Mal shrank a bit at the acid in her words, looking to the other doorway when Kaylee's voice rang out from around the corner. "On no ya don't, come here you." The mechanic entered smiling triumphantly, a squirming Jack locked under one arm, Marina tucked against her shoulder with the other. "Inara I found somethin', think it belongs ta you."

Inara smiled gratefully as she took her son, uncaring of the bubbly water that now drenched her silk gown. "Thank you Kaylee." She looked sternly at her boy. "Do it again and I'll tell Book you aren't allowed anymore stories."

Jack, who had been squirming in his mother's grip, now stilled and went silent. Inara nodded approvingly, sweeping out of the galley and back to the bathroom. Mal shook his head at his son's antics. As the crew finished their meals they began to head their separate ways to begin the business of the day.

Incorporating the children into their lifestyle hadn't been easy at first, but with five little ones all under three it became a necessity, and rountines had been quickly established. Wash took Jason and Derrial to the bridge with him, both boys happy to follow their father to the dinosaur figurines they loved playing with.

The pilot sat in his chair, passing down a prehistoric figure for each of his sons before turning on the cortex. Every morning he scanned for any news reports, security footage, or fresh warrants that had come up overnight. Although their records had been cleared the crew were still vigilant in protecting themselves. The decision to stay off the radar had been an easy one; none of the crew were willing to risk their families by going public.

Wash carefully checked through everything, relieved to find that no footage was available from the bar fight on Hyrbis. Jayne's demonic ancestry was something they'd worked hard to keep quiet, less the information fall into the wrong hands. Knowledge of Slayers was still rare and highly suppressed, and River's identity was fiercely guarded by the crew.

Wash looked up to where his boys were sitting on the floor. Derrial was attacking Jason's T-rex with an Apatosaurus, and Wash hurried to intervene. "No no, that's a herbivore, it can't attack a T-rex!" He sat himself down on the floor to teach his boys something important.

* * *

Mal and Zoe sat in the cargo bay looking over their latest job requests. They still committed crime when necessary, but the avenues for finding such jobs were much more restricted. Rather than their previous predilection to theft they now focused largely on protection jobs. Clients would contact one of their few remaining liaisons, requesting the team for whatever was required. If the contact thought they were legitimate, a process usually involving a password or phrase that was changed weekly, he would pass the job on to the crew.

Mal and Zoe would pour over the job, working out any particulars and concerns before they called in River. The Reader would examine their plans, pointing out any weak spots and providing predictions were possible, before they would then take the job to the crew for consideration.

The process was a lengthy one and required Mal to give up some of his previous control but it allowed for greater consideration of the pros and cons and had saved them from exposure more times than Mal liked to count.

Mal looked to Zoe. "I don't know why Monty gave us this here job but it don't seem like a good idea ta me." Zoe nodded in agreement. "Seems a might problematic to assist in a raid on a school. I can't see why Monty would offer it to us; he knows we don't go for that kinda thing. I thought he didn't either."

Mal sighed. "Well fer whatever reason he offered it ta us, an' I don't think we can do it." He looked up as River floated into the room, always surprised at how young she looked. At 19 she was still the thin, pale girl who had crawled out of that box, but the battle on Miranda had changed something. She still had her moments, even Slayer healing was unable to repair the parts of her mind the Academy destroyed, but now she could own her skills rather than be owned by them.

He smiled as she sat down. "Well lil witch, what'dyou think 'bout this job." Her eyes grew clouded as she looked past the paper. "False, serpents tongue deceiving good intentions." Mal nodded, not needing her to explain past that. The crew was used to her way of speaking; although it was still sometimes difficult to work out what she said things tended to show themselves eventually.

Zoe felt oddly relieved when Mal tore the job offer in half. The whole thing had felt strangely grimy, and River's prediction had supported her own concerns. She looked at the Reader. "Where's Lily?"

River smiled at her. "Helping Daddy exercise."

* * *

Jayne puffed against the weight of the barbell. Since he'd come into his heritage it had become necessary to make some minor adjustments to his routine. The first one had been the weight of his barbell. They'd been less than useless when his demonic lineage gripped his muscles with inhumane strength so he and Simon had sought out the densest metal they could find. Tigant was usually used in wrecking balls, the weighty metal so dense that only a small ball was required to do the job effectively and with devastating results.

Kaylee had knocked up an anti-grav platform for him to put his weights and work bench on, counteracting the intense pressure the Tigant would put on Serenity. So now he was sweating, pushing his barbell up and counting his reps. The effect would have been much more impressive if it hadn't been for his baby girl lying on his stomach.

Even when she'd first been born she'd liked sleeping on her Pa, and the rhythmic pull of the muscles working the weight was enough to send her straight to dreamland. He finished his set, replacing the weight and carefully picking her up. He turned to where Book was going through is tai chi, the older man concentrating hard. Again the effect was somewhat ruined by Marina's happy giggle from the corner of the cargo bay where she sat with her stuffed dog Wilbur.

Jayne checked the time, nodding to Book just as the man finished. Jayne still carried Lily who was now slowly waking up while Book scooped up the littlest Tam, wincing when one chubby hand pulled at his hair. They headed to the nursery they'd set up some time ago, finding Kaylee sitting on the old chair with three little boys at her feet.

Some time ago the crew had caught on to the fact that Kaylee was fantastic with small children, and decided that some form of kindergarten was in order. Although it really just consisted of the mechanic reading them stories and engaging them in some easy crafts it was still a great way to entertain the little ones. She would entertain them for a few hours before handing them over to the other crewmembers to perform her work on the engine. Mal especially had been initially concerned about children growing up on a boat, but Kaylee's little kindergarten (as well as a few choice words from the ship-born Zoe) had alleviated his concerns.

Simon assisted, having spent hours pouring over cortex feeds about early childhood education. It meant the crew could get their work done, the kids could be entertained and learn, and Simon could drive everyone nuts with his ideas for educational toys.

Life wasn't always easy. Keeping off the grid was more complex than any of them could have hoped. But their little ones made it worth every second. The ship was a lighter place, richer and happier when filled with their little ones, and nobody could deny the value they found in their little family.

Wash called Book to the bridge. "Wave came through for ya." He left the Watcher in privacy. Book looked at the familiar face on the screen. "Radimus, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The other Watcher looked serious, his grey eyes and white hair a testament to his age. "We have information Derrial, information about one of our number who went rogue long ago."

Book's eyes widened as his old mentor warned him of the dangerous new presence. A Watcher long since departed from the fold. A Watcher who got tired of waiting for the girl to arrive.A Watcher who didn't like the idea of being in the background to a young girl. A Watcher who longed for violence, who went rogue and became something much more deadly.

* * *

Early sighed in frustration as the offer he had placed through Monty was rejected. Another avenue of finding Reynolds' crew was closed, and he looked at his already short list of names. One particular name caught his eye, and he smiled to himself.

"Well maybe this ain't gon' be so hard afterall."

He drew a slow circle around the last name on his list. Edward Badger.

**A/N: **Sorry if this seems slow kids, I just wanna set up the life and vibe on the ship now. Hope you're all still interested. Also, they never gave Badger a last name so I'm rolling with Edward (I can see him as an Eddie). Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Maybe it's just me but I've always kinda liked Badger...

* * *

Badger surveyed the man in front of him. The stranger was tall and dark, dressed in cheap pants and shirt that showed signs of travel. He was gripping his farmer's straw hat between his hands, his body language hunched; nervous and supplicating. The black eyes looked tired and pleading and Badger wondered how a Rim hick had found his way to Persephone.

The man's voice was laced with fear. "Please sir, they're our children. We need help." The story was a sadly familiar one – slavers had taken advantage of the disassembly of the Alliance, preying on Rim towns more boldly than they ever had before. While the planet's worked hard to reform a safer, less corrupt Government there were ongoing security issues as the less reputable elements recognised weak spots in society. The worst of these raids involved stealing children from their beds a night and putting them to work in mines or as indentured servants. Or worse.

Still, Badger was hesitant. Those eyes seemed to be hiding something though he wasn't sure what. "An' 'ow come you're askin' me? I ain't some Rim hero, jus' a local businessman."

The man's eyes dropped to the floor nervously. "We had heard…there're rumours that you have contacts what specialize in this sort o' thing. An' if they's got little ones they might understand our problem, might be willin' ta help us?"

Badger narrowed his eyes. Following the Miranda broad wave Serenity had dropped off the radar for months. It was only a year later that Badger was contacted, a secret meeting organised between him and Captain Reynolds. Though no love was lost between them Badger still couldn't refuse their request for assistance. Because Badger had a sister, a younger sister, Emily. And one day Emily, along with her husband and Badger's sweet little nephew Peter had gone to a new planet. And never come back.

Miranda. Mal's eyes had been solemn when he'd spoken about the horror they'd seen, and Badger had found that even his black little heart could not refuse to help the crew that had told his sister's story. So they'd set up their system – Badger would be contacted and if the request seemed legitimate he would pass it on to Mal, who would refuse or accept.

Nobody ever contacted Serenity directly unless they were one of the established contacts, and even Badger didn't know who else was on that very short list of trusted confidants. Truth be told even when he'd agreed it was five months before the lingering feeling of irritation wore off – he didn't like helping Mal, the man was too damn…pretentious. Still, any doubts in his mind had been eradicated when he'd met the new crewmembers.

It hadn't been intentional, not by a long shot. The last thing Mal, or any of the crew, wanted was for their children to be exposed to someone they didn't entirely trust. But a close call with rebel Alliance soldiers had made it necessary to hide out, and Persephone had been the nearest planet where they knew someone.

When Inara, Kaylee and River had shown up at his doorstop that rainy night, soaked to the bone and clutching their little bundles tightly to their chests, Badger had been tempted to turn them away just to spite Reynolds. But then the little boy held tightly against Inara had turned those big black eyes on him. Peter. Jack Reynolds reminded him too much of his lost nephew, and he had thrown the door open. That night he'd met Marina, Jack, and the Washburne twins. And even though Inara and Kaylee were initially wary of Badger, they couldn't stay mistrusting when they saw how delighted he was with the children. River, pregnant with Lily at the time, had seemed calm enough in his presence that the other two women eventually relaxed. A little known fact about the grimy little man was his complete love of children. He'd made Derrial giggle with a pair of little puppets he'd bought for Peter long ago, Jason much less trusting than his brother but still entranced by the dancing toys.

Little Marina had him wrapped around her pinkie from the moment Kaylee allowed him to hold her, and that night any lingering doubts about helping Reynolds and his crew had completely disappeared. When the rest of the crew had come to collect their loved ones several days later they'd been shocked at the scene in Badger's office.

Derrial and Jack had been giggling as Badger made silly faces at them, Marina bouncing on his knee and joining in the laughter. Jason had sat quietly next to River, his little hand resting on her swollen stomach as he gave a small smile at the man's antics. Inara and Kaylee had left to make everybody some lunch, and when the rest of the crew entered it had taken some explaining as to why Badger was being so nice.

Zoe and Wash had swooped in to grab their sons, Simon quickly taking Marina while Jayne and Mal had both drawn weapons. The scene could have gotten very ugly if not for River's calm presence. She'd simply put a hand on Jayne's weapon arm, the big man struggling to control his demon but unable to argue with his Slayer wife. Badger had seen then the unearthly strength that River possessed, carefully controlling the emotions of her crew while Inara and Kaylee, who had just come back from their trip to the kitchen, struggled to explain.

River had summed it up for all of them. "Nobody is universally unlikable." Badger would have been offended but he still had a soft spot for the Reader, and her thin body with its baby bump made him smile. As the crew had left, still wary of Badger's intentions and concerned at his contact with their little ones, he'd pulled River aside and quietly asked her to let him know when the baby was born, and that he'd like to see her one day. She'd given him a brilliant smile that warmed places in his heart he'd forgotten were there.

He'd seen them since, observing with delight the growth of the little ones, and when River had allowed him to hold Lily he'd felt himself melt. Of course it was hard to relax with the Reader's oversized husband glaring at him the whole time with eyes that occasionally flashed crimson, but the baby's dark eyes with their long lashes had turned him to jelly. Unscrupulous bastard he may be but Badger had a soft spot for Serenity's children, and when Mal turned to River she'd nodded at his unasked question. They could trust him.

Since then he'd been lucky enough to spend time with the children on several occasions, and it was with an odd sense of privilege that he threw his door open when the crew needed somewhere to stash their most precious cargo. Zoe and Mal still refused to trust him completely, but River's authority on the inner secrets of the human heart was rarely questioned, and nobody could deny that Badger had a knack for handling the little ones. And it helped that nobody could seem to stay in the same room with the children and not fall in love. The day Jack had mumbled "Ungle Bwadga" was one of his finest memories.

This is why he was now hesitant to let this stranger access the crew, knowing full well that their involvement in any job presented an element of risk to their little ones. More importantly the man's eyes seemed to be watching for any reaction from him, and that was rarely a good sign.

Badger sighed dramatically. "Well I ain't got nobody stationed near Kinderstood at the moment, sorry mate." He turned dismissively.

The man's voice was firmer than it had been. "If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Badger stiffened. They changed the access phrase weekly, sometimes more often if Reynolds felt particularly wary, and that was the current one they were using. It was difficult to find and even harder to get right, but the man had gotten it spot on. And using that phrase meant Mal was informed about the job, whether Badger thought it was a good idea or not.

He turned. The man was still gripping his hat and twisting it nervously, his eyes lacking any of the wariness they had held before, his voice dropped to a pleading tone. "Please sir, they's our children, we can't let anythin' happen to 'em."

Kinderstood was known for valuing their children above all else, and Badger sighed. "I might 'ave someone I can ask. No guarantees; they got their own kin to worry about."

Something sharp gleamed in the stranger's eyes but was gone just as quickly, and Badger missed the crucial moment, his head turned to a disc on his desk. He passed the recorder to the man. "'ere, enter yer details an' I'll get back ta ya."

Jubal struggled to keep the triumphant expression from his face, maintaining the look of pathetic gratitude as he hurriedly entered the temporary wave code he'd purchased. "Thank you sir, thank you so much." Badger waved his hand dismissively. "No guarantees, I'll jus' pass on the message."

Jubal refrained from asking when Serenity would be there, unwilling to push his luck. He nodded his head once to Badger. "Thank you kindly sir, my whole planet appreciates yer help."

Badger nodded as the stranger left. He looked at the disc recording and sighed, waiting half an hour before he put the wave through to Reynolds.

* * *

The stranger left Badger's offices slowly, his steps heavy and his face tired. As he rounded a corner the most curious thing began happening. His strides grew lengthy and confidant, he straightened up and the pleading look left his eyes, replaced by that strange intensity. As he turned another corner he tore the dust covered shirt from his chest along with the matching cheap pants, revealing the tightly fitted body suit he favoured. Finally he threw the clothes and farmer's hat into the dumpster, a smug smile appearing on his face.

It had been a gamble to seek out information from Badger but it had paid off better than he could have hope. So, Serenity had children on it. That could work. That could work very, very well.

**A/N: **Sorry it's a bit short guys.


	5. Chapter 5

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Ok kids, this is the last chapter before that rating goes up - I'm providing an early warning for violence and disturbing material.

* * *

Mal listened as Badger explained the job, the graph printer providing the brief. A town on the world of Kinderstood had been hit by raiders several times and there were indications that the raiders would be coming back once more. Kinderstood was a relatively isolated Rim world known for its prodigious toy exports. The large factories that manufactured children's toys were known as KinderPlants, and they were the planet's life blood. The beautiful marbles, train sets, educational objects and finely crafted dolls were popular all over the 'verse. Marina's soft toy puppy, Jason and Derrials miniature soldier jackets, Jack's toy pistol and Lily's crayon set had all come from various shops around the 'verse stocking KinderPlant toys.

The planet was known for their deep love of children, and there was a heavy focus on education and nutrition for the youngest Kinders. Unfortunately this made them a prime world for slavers to hit, the lure of healthy children on an isolated Rim planet was too good to pass up. After the last few raids had left parts of the planet devastated and mourning the people decided to take action and they had contacted Badger for help.

Mal waited until Badger finished speaking. "An' what else? There's somethin' ya ain't told me." Badger looked frustrated. "Ain't like that mate – I jus' got a weird feelin' from the chap who brough' this ta me."

Mal nodded. "Maybe that feelin' was terror? They're worried 'bout their kids." Badger shook his head. "Nah, somethin' else. Almos' like he was watchin' me fer somethin'." Mal shrugged. "Well do ya think the job is legit?"

Badger nodded. "I got me boys ta 'ave a look at reports – Kinderstood 'as been 'it a few times of late, don't seem too far off ta think the people'd be feelin' a might nervous." Mal nodded. "Well, ok then, guess we ain't got much choice."

Badger's eyes grew hopeful and Mal sighed, knowing what he was waiting for. He bent down to pick his son up off the floor where he'd been happily chewing on one of Wash's dinosaurs. The little boy's face brightened when he saw who was onscreen. "Bwadga!" Badger smiled at him. "'Allo lil man, 'ow've you been?"

Jack garbled happily for a moment, only stopping when he noticed Jayne enter with Lily. The big man still couldn't feel completely comfortable around Badger but Lily seemed to have her mother's knack for knowing things before they happened, his usually calm little girl and would grow fussy if she wasn't allowed to see Badger.

He plopped her in the Captains lap next to Jack, the little boy immediately poking her nose and going 'boop', which made the little girl giggle. For some reason they'd discovered this game a while ago, and their little child minds knew their parents could rarely resist the adorableness of it. Lily smiled happily, turning to the screen where Badger looked on with joy.

The little girl couldn't yet speak but she was able to recognise him and a happy burble escaped her lips as she tried to tell him what was going on. He just smiled, listening patiently to the garbled chatter of the two little ones until Mal grew impatient. "Well we got lots ta do an' I'm sure yer busy an' all."

Badger nodded. "Bye bye lil ones, be good." Lily pulled herself up by the control panel, pressing a wet little kiss on the screen, much to Badger's amusement. He was smiling shyly as they flicked off the wave screen.

Mal turned to Jayne, who was scooping up his flirty little daughter. "That man is jus' the biggest sucker fer kids I've ever met."

Jayne smirked. "Yeah, who'da thunk it?" He took Jack in his other arm so Mal could take the job offer to Zoe.

Unsurprisingly the first mate was keen. Since having their own family the crew had taken greater issue with slavers, the vile men who snatched up babies in the night. This wouldn't be their first mission of such a nature, and even Jayne would be pleased at the offer of violence.

They'd just made the decision to ask River's opinion when the girl in question came bolting into the galley. Ever since her body had adjusted to the rigours of becoming a Slayer she had more control over herself, but now her dark eyes were wild and clouded, filled with pain and horror as she spoke.

"The serpent swallowed them whole, little lives extinguished one by one! He coils around them, squeezing out the life if the birds leave their nest, the eggs are all cracked!"

Mal and Zoe exchanged glances as Simon ran into the room, breathless from running after his sister who had taken off in terror just seconds ago. Mal knelt in front of River who was now pressing herself against a wall, tears streaming down her face. He tried to keep his voice calm. "Lil witch, what's goin' on? This a trap?"

River was shaking violently and when Jayne entered his eyes went wide. He stepped forward and scooped her into his arms, willing her to calm down before she strung her body so taut she snapped a bone. She was sobbing violently, her words jumbled and incoherent.

"Can't understand don't understand. They all fall down, ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies, ashes ashes they all fall down." Her voice trailed off, the singsong tone sending shivers down the spine of every occupant in the room.

Zoe noted the girl's words down in shorthand before she turned tense eyes to Mal. "Sir, she said the serpent swallowed them. The children might be dead already. This could be a trap." Mal nodded. "But she also said 'if' the birds leave the nest – we might still be able ta prevent it."

Simon was nervously checking over his sister, who was still clutched tightly in her husband's big arms. "We can't argue about semantics, it's too difficult to ascertain what she was trying to say." Jayne nodded. "Doc's right, bes' ta write it down fer later. What was y'all talkin' 'bout?"

Mal nodded to the job disc on the table. "Kinderstood's been attacked by slavers, people got wind o' another attack an' they want our help. They're takin' children."

Mal watched calmly as Jayne's face changed to his demonic visage. Slavers were a pet hate of his, ever since their run in with the vile men on Dyton. They'd managed to fight them off and save the people but two children had almost been killed, the slavers willing to dispose of them before being caught.

It never failed to surprise Mal that River could find comfort in that monstrous visage, but the girl snuggled deeper into her husband's neck, still sobbing quietly, and Mal figured love could make you overlook a hell of a lot. They comm'd the rest of the crew to the galley and discussed the upcoming job.

Book looked wary. "If River is having such a strong reaction maybe we should avoid it." Kaylee shook her head vehemently, the movement briefly disturbing the sleeping Marina. "No, what if it was our kids? We can't leave 'em unprotected, we gotta help!"

As much as Kaylee's sweet personality sometimes grated on the more cynical members of the crew they still knew she was right. Mal sighed loudly. "Bottom line; there're kids in danger. Now we can't figure out if River was tryin' ta tell us they was already dead or jus' captured, but either way I can't in all good conscience leave those little ones to that fate. Anyone opposed?"

The entire crew felt uncomfortable with any job that had River so worked up, but Mal watched as they glanced to the children in the laps. Not one member could imagine what they'd do if their own children were attacked and so one by one the slowly nodded. Zoe had Jason sitting on her lap next to Derrial, the latter silent for once; seeming to realize his mother was very worried.

The first mate's voice was tense. "You're right sir – we can't keep flyin' knowin' those children might need our help."

Mal turned to Wash. "Set us a course for Kinderstood." The pilot nodded, his face serious for once as he strode to the bridge. The tense mood still lay heavy across the table until the pilot's voice rang out from control room.

"Why the _guai_ is there drool on Mr Pterodactyl?"


	6. Chapter 6

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Yup, rating goes up right here. Violence and disturbing concepts. Warning: this is **dark.** And later, sex. Booyah.

The trip to Kinderstood was difficult. It only took a week long but for the crew it felt like a year. River had seemingly sunk back into the protective insanity that had shielded her when she fought with Miranda's dark secret. Although she would have occasional moments of lucidity they were rare and growing rarer every day. When they did occasionally happen she couldn't remember anything well enough to be able to communicate the reasons for her breakdown.

Jayne was having the hardest time of all. He took care of Lily, the baby growing more distressed with every day her mother slipped further into madness, and his usually peaceful daughter was now easily prone to tears, keeping him awake throughout the night. She had been walking unassisted, the precocious child quickly passing her age milestones, but she had never had tantrums before. Now her screaming was almost impossible to calm, the little one exhausting herself and falling into fitful sleep. Whenever River was lucid enough she wanted to hold Lily, but the one-year-old seemed to sense that something was wrong, and the crew struggled to help Jayne cope.

Simon was feeling a creeping sense of dread at his sister's relapse. The last time she'd been this bad was when Miranda had been eating away at her brain. The idea that she had seen something that undid all her advancement over the last few years was painful and terrifying. As a Slayer such relapses were not only frightening and upsetting – if they turned violent they could become deadly.

The decision to medicate her was made when she slammed her fist into the bulkhead hard enough to leave a huge dent in the metal, the crew growing concerned that their friend might eventually fail to recognise one of them, or worse, one of the children. Simon held back tears as he was forced to put his sister into a drugged sleep for the first time in years, Jayne's eyes hard and miserable at the sight of his wife so far gone. The thoughts that ran through his head were uninvited and cruel – what if she never came back to herself? What if she was too far gone this time? He shook his head. Those thoughts did him no good, and he had to believe she would come back.

By the time they arrived on Kinderstood the medication had worn off leaving River groggy but subdued. The crew surveyed blueprints of the town they arrived at, shocked at how silent it was when they opened the doors. Wash's eyes were wide. "It's like they've all gone into hiding."

They looked up local wave records, finding an article from the native newspaper. They'd arrived just when the men of the town went on their bi-annual scouting trips to other towns, inspecting and comparing the new toys that were being manufactured. It seemed strange that a town terrified of slave raiders would leave their vulnerable here alone. The thought that they may be heading into a trap crossed everyone's minds.

Wash flicked across the cortex when he noticed the beacon. "It's a distress beacon, not far from here, it looks recent. Can't be more than a day or two old."

Mal nodded. "Well I guess that's where we're going." The decision was made that Book would remain behind to protect the ship, while Kaylee and the children were taken to the secret room Mal had installed two weeks after his son was born. At the back on the infirmary there was an almost invisible trap door leading to a narrow opening. Through the passage was a small room that only held a few small beds, some supplies and large bottles of fresh water. The only other door was to the small bathroom they set up, nothing more than a sink and toilet. Simon kissed Kaylee on the forehead, moving to do the same to his daughter. Jayne hugged Lily close to his chest, the little girl looking miserable but silent. It was decided that River would be needed just in case her predictions became clearer, and the danger of leaving her for Book to try and handle was too great. She planted a kiss on her daughter's cheek, stroking the baby's soft skin, her eyes still clouded and distant. She leant close and whispered something in her daughter's ear.

The Washburne twins hugged their parents, Jason holding Derrial's hand comfortingly as they settled together on one of the bunks. Finally Mal and Inara set Jack down, the little boy looking confused and frightened until Kaylee distracted him with toy. Inara moved to sit next to Kaylee, turning to plant a fierce kiss on Mal. She looked at him seriously. "Come back to me."

He tried to grin at her cockily, the look failing at the anxiety in his eyes. "Always do."

As the closed the hidden door behind them every member of the crew was filled with a feeling of foreboding. Book nodded to them as they walked forward. Until the whole crew was back on board that room would not be opened by anyone. Mal turned hard eyes to his odd little family. "Let's go get this over with."

As they piled into the mule and headed for the beacon River wrapped her arms tightly around herself, her eyes filled with tears.

* * *

The beacon came from an old toy factory, one that was out of use since newer ones with more modern technology had been built. Mal and Jayne entered with their guns drawn, the mercenary's eyes blazing when his sensitive nose picked up the scent of fresh blood. They moved silently into the dusty factory, the grime on the windows darkening the room to the point that torches were required.

Simon, who was tagging along in case medical assistance was required, clutched his sister's hand tightly. She was shaking, her eyes clouded over and her moving as if she was talking, although no sound came out. She had lost weight in the last few days, her slim frame now looking frail and emaciated as the pressures of her mind became too great for her body to hold down food.

Zoe and Wash were scanning the walls for any sign of movement or indication of recent use. The only thing they could make out were some drag marks on the floor, along with some footprints in the dust, and Wash swallowed as he noticed how small they were.

Jayne allowed his face to change, his vision improving against the dark light that even the torches had a hard time penetrating. His nose led him to a back room where the scent of blood and fear grew ever stronger, and his heart began to pounding heavily in his chest. The room must have once been a shelter of some kind. There was a heavy metal door cracked partially open, although not enough for him to see into the room. He paused in the doorway, looking to Mal.

His voice was low. "I got a bad feelin' 'bout this." Mal nodded, turning to where Simon stood with a still shaking River. "Lil witch, you seein' anythin'?" River looked lost and small, her eyes desperately trying to see past the fog of unhindered emotion that was clouding her mind. Her blue dress hung off her thin frame, her fragile looking legs encased in their black boots.

Her voice came out in a sing song tone that sent shivers down their spines. "Serpent is a liar. I don't think your intentions are honourable."

Mal wracked his brains. He'd heard that somewhere before, a long time ago, and couldn't quite remember where. The memory pricked at him – it was something important. He shook himself, the hairs on his back standing on end. He nodded at Jayne.

The big man slammed his shoulder into the door, throwing it open and allowing the crew to pour into the windowless room behind him.

Where every single one of them stopped dead.

There were twelve children, not one of them older than eight, propped against the far wall of the room. With their wide, glassy eyes they would have looked like little dolls if not for the blood that had soaked into their clothing. Every single of their throats had been slit, the pools of red in the centre of the room and the bloody drag marks on the floor indicating someone had moved them into their showy positions after they had been killed. Their little hands were all placed neatly in their laps, the skin of their wrists showing signs of tearing from restraints having been used. They weren't just propped up – they were on display.

Wash immediately began dry retching, his stomach purging its contents at the sight of those cold, pathetic little bodies. Tears filled Zoe's eyes, Mal and Jayne were shaking with rage whilst Simon stood there frozen in horror. Jayne winced as the smell of blood assaulted his nostrils. The usual hunger that accompanied such a scent wasn't present – there was no pleasure in this, there was only relentless agony. He knelt in front of a girl barely older than Lily, and he felt his face shift with rage.

This wasn't the horrifyingly gentle caress of 30 million people laying down to die as a result of a controlling Government. This was twelve children with their throats slit, their bodies displayed for maximum cruelty. No wonder River had slipped back into madness.

They turned at a low sound from behind the large wood desk blocking one of the walls.

Mal and Zoe moved to where the noise had come from. The bodies of eight women were strewn across the floor. Mal's eyes flared at the sight of the bruising around their necks as he turned back to where the pools of blood indicated the killing position of the children. His voice shook with rage. "He made them watch. These must o' been their mothers, and he made them watch."

The women were all bound, a testament to the cowardice of their killer, and Mal turned when he heard that small noise again. A tiny wheeze. His eyes went wide. "Doc! We got a live one!" Simon rushed over to them, his eyes still horrified by the carnage he'd witnessed. At the sight of the strangled women he had to fight the bile in his throat.

The woman who had made the noise was leant against the desk, her eyes bloodshot and her neck showing the tell-tale bruising. Simon sat in front of her, quickly checking her over, taking note of the dark black bruise spreading across her exposed ribcage before he turned to Mal. "She's haemorrhaging, the strangulation must have stopped before she died but the damage is there. It looks like she's been kicked in the stomach. There's nothing more I can do except make her comfortable."

He reached into his med bag, taking out a lethal shot of morphine, when suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. The woman's grip was weak but her eyes were determined. Her destroyed throat wheezed out her words. "A monster. He's a monster…made us…watch." A choked sob tore through her throat and she pressed on. "Was…waiting…waiting for something."

Her broken body couldn't sustain itself any longer, and her eyes closed over as her last breath escaped her lips. Simon stood, his eyes now turning professional as he strode over to where the children lay. He felt their pale skin, gently moving one child's arm, looking at the blood pattern before standing and addressing the crew.

His eyes were hard. "These children only died maybe two hours before we got here. There's no way that woman could have survived that kind of internal trauma any longer than that. And rigour mortis hasn't even set in yet. It usually starts about three hours after death."

Wash, still badly shaken by the contents of the room, tried to keep his voice from wavering. "But that beacon – that was sent at least a day ago."

Mal nodded. "Yer right – who the hell left these bodies like this? An' why would slavers kill their prey when the whole gorram town was abandoned anyway? Ain't like they knew we were comin'."

River's quiet voice filled the room, growing with intensity as she paced back and forth in front of the gruesome pantomime. "You crawl inside me uninvited and you hurt my crew. I see everything that passes. Your mother saw it, sadness in her when she waved goodbye but she's relieved, saw darkness in you. YOU'RE NOT WELL!"

She screamed out that last words just as a timer sounded and the heavy metal door that marked their only escape clanged shut.

* * *

Kaylee and Inara looked up in relief as the hidden door slowly opened. Inara was smiling. "Thank god, we were so worried!" As the footsteps came down the narrow passage they quickly gathered up the children, who were acting strangely subdued, almost frightened. Kaylee smiled reassuringly. "Don't you worry none, they're back!"

As the man entered the small room Inara and Kaylee were filled with horror at the sight of the familiar face.

Right before the butt of his gun connected with her head Inara's last thought floated through her mind.

_No._

_

* * *

_

A light flicked in River's head, the madness clearing just in time for the vile pus of the horrifying room infected her psyche. The room went black until Mal turned on his torch, the light bouncing off a terrified and completely lucid River who was now crying openly. "No, no no no no! Not them, leave them, never them no! Please, please no!"

Zoe's voice was panicked. "We knew it was a trap sir, it was a gorram trap!" Mal nodded as he watched River pace back and forth. He whispered under his breath. "Sadness when she waved goodbye…holy Buddha she's talkin' 'bout Early, that gorram bounty hunter! But why ain't we dead iffen that's what he wanted? An' why wouldn't he take River?"

River was now held tightly against Jayne's chest, her voice slightly muffled as her tears wet his shirt. "He likes to play."

Simon's eyes grew wide as he remembered what his sister had said. His voice came out in a whisper filled with horror. "Coiling around them if the brids leave the nest..._t__amade_." He turned wide eyes to the rest of the crew, realizing they were coming to the same conclusion. He looked at the wall of tiny dead bodies.

"It was a trap. It just wasn't for us."

**A/N: **Line shamelessly stolen from Buffy. Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Ok I know the last chapter was kinda brutal but I believe the sadistic behaviour is appropriate in the context of the sociopathic Early.

Jayne's vision was perfect even in the dark room, pinpointing any available flashes of light and using them fully. He charged at the doors. The metal whined and squealed under his weight and as he pulled at it he was briefly reminded of a moment over two years ago, desperately pulling at the metal sealing him from his world.

Finally he created a gap big enough for the crew to slip through and they all began to run out of the factory. Every single heart was pounding with fear, every mind laced with terror at the thought of their babies exposed to that monster. Simon sprinted alongside Wash and Zoe, Kaylee's face and his daughter's sweet eyes at the forefront of his mind.

As soon as they exited the factory Jayne took off into the air, pumping his wings hard and speeding towards the ship. River was sprinting almost as fast as he could fly, her Slayer speed eating the ground beneath her as the crew ran behind them. When he arrived at the ship he saw Book's body lying in the cargo bay, and dived forward to where the Watcher lay holding his leg.

River rounded the corner, bounding past Book and straight for the hidden door in the infirmary. Jayne carried Book in the same direction, retracting his wings to pass through the hallway of the ship. The rest of the crew just caught sight of him as he ran up the stairs, bolting in the same direction.

When he arrived in the infirmary River was sitting stiffly next to Inara's prone body. The ex-Companion had been hit over the head hard, a dark bruise and trickle of blood marring her beautiful face. Jayne set Book gently on the chair before hurrying down the hallway. Blankets had been stolen from the beds; there were signs of a struggle.

And the children and Kaylee were nowhere to be seen.

Jayne roared his anger out, shaking the rest of the crew to a stop as they entered the infirmary. Simon ran over to Book, whose leg had been broken, the white bones protruding grotesquely through his skin. Inara stirred, groaning in pain as Mal hurried to her side. She didn't wake up and he called out to Simon, placing his partner carefully on the nearby bench.

Zoe and Wash clung to each other when Jayne emerged from the hidden room that was meant to keep their babies safe. His demonic features were laced with pain, and Zoe felt an anger well up inside her like she'd never felt before.

Simon administered a painkiller to Book and rushed over to Inara. He checked her wound, activating a cold compression unit and telling Mal to hold it there. His voice was breathless and tense. "She's just been knocked out; she should come too soon, but keep that there to help reduce the swelling."

Book groaned as Simon moved over to him, his voice hoarse with pain and regret. "He got past me, broke my leg before I could stop him. I didn't tell him, I swear I didn't tell him."

Mal gritted his teeth. "Sumbitch musta used a heat sensor, it's the only way he coulda found them. Which meant he knew what he was lookin' for." Simon nodded, quickly trying to focus his mind as he apologised to the Watcher. "This is going to hurt." Zoe slipped an empty knife sheath between Book's teeth, and the Watcher bit down in agony when Simon forced the bones back into the skin, applying a calcium depositer to seal the break before stitching and wrapping the wound.

The doctor's eyes began to swim as reality set in, and he sunk down to where River was curled on the floor, his head in his hands as the sobs started. The Reader's tear stained face was now disturbingly blank as she watched her crewmates fall apart. Those ancient voices began to swirl in her mind and her eyes began to cloud over as her psyche pulled the secrets from the walls.

Book's eyes were filled with tears at the thought of Serenity's children in the hands of a monster. The painkiller for his leg could only do so much and he felt his body go into shock. Before he passed out he grabbed Zoe's hand.

His voice grew faint. "I know who took them."

* * *

Kaylee woke up to the sound of her daughter crying. Her arms instantly extended out to pick up the baby from her crib next to the bed Kaylee shared with Simon, only to find her hands bound. A feeling of dread suddenly welled up in her stomach as she blinked, opening her eyes to see near darkness all around her.

Her mind raced with terror as she tried to sit up, only to find her movement blocked by metal bars. A cage. She was in a cage. She struggled to orient herself, the pain in her head was distracting but her daughter's cries won over the throbbing. She saw them. Another cage, this one hammered into the wall opposite her, a good five feet away from hers. She felt the tears fill her eyes. Her daughter was leaning up against Jack, who looked petrified. Jason and Derrial were standing, their little hands holding the bars as they tried to reach for their Auntie Kaylee. Lily was somewhere behind them.

Kaylee couldn't stop the sobs that wracked her body. She was trapped, she didn't know where, and she couldn't even hug her baby or her nieces and nephews. The children looked terrified; their eyes wide with fear, and Kaylee wondered what sort of monster could do this to someone.

Just as she remembered who had captured them the door at the far end of the room opened, shedding some light. Kaylee sniffed, flicking her eyes quickly around the room. She saw a modern turbine engine, as well as a brand new generator. The gold plating on the generator told her experienced eyes what kind of ship she was on – a personnel class Bandit, a fast but small ship designed to allow quick travel between worlds for only a few people at a time.

Early's face appeared in front of her, his eyes dead and cold as he leaned against the cage that held her. "Now I ain't gon' hurt you, long as you do what I say you're more value ta me alive an' whole. But if you cross me-"

Kaylee's voice came out in a snarl that took him aback. "Save it mister, yer gonna need those balls fer when my crew comes fer ya." He blinked at her in shock, before a slow smile spread across his face. "Seem ta remember you not always bein' so brave."

Kaylee glared at him. "Things change. An' if I were you I'd be sayin' my last prayers." Her eyes glittered queerly and for a moment Early looked concerned. Her voice was still harsh, sounding strange coming from her sweet face. "Ya got no idea what's comin' fer ya."

Early snorted. "What, a Slayer?" It was Kaylee's turn to look taken aback, her eyes widening before becoming calculating. "Ya think that's it don't ya, think she's all you've gotta worry 'bout? An' ya really think ya can take her?"

Her voice held a note of pity that made Early sneer angrily. He moved away from her cage and towards the one that held the children. Kaylee's eyes went wide with fear and her voice became pleading. "No, please no. Please, I'm sorry I was rude, please don't hurt 'em."

Early smirked, an ugly look made all the uglier by the cold dead eyes he turned to her. He knelt before the cage, reaching in one hand to run through Marina's hair. And then pulled back immediately when Jack, still looking terrified, promptly bit his hand. Kaylee supressed a smile of approval; trust Mal's kid to do that. But Early refused to be shaken. Jason and Derrial immediately pulled Jack back to where they sat, shielding Marina with their tiny bodies, causing Kaylee's eyes to fill with tears at their brave little faces.

His voice was harsh. "Now I'm gon' let him get away wit' that, seein' as I need you whole fer a little while longer. But make no mistake; any attempts to get in my way will result in one o' these children headin' straight fer heaven, an' it won't be an easy route."

Lily Cobb took that moment to stand on wobbly legs, walking towards the bars closest to Early and looking into his eyes. Her face looked surprisingly solemn for a one year old, and Kaylee watched in shock as the baby spoke her first words. "Boom. Go boom."

Early looked into those dark brown eyes, strangely familiar eyes that he was sure he'd seen before, and the little girl's voice filled him with terror, though he couldn't say why. He stood quickly, turning back to Kaylee as he moved out of the room.

"Keep them in line, else their bodies are forfeit."

* * *

River sat very still as the emotions of her crewmates buffeted around her. Anger, fear, rage, hatred and terror all clanged in her mind, painting the air a horrible mix of sickly yellow, acid green and putrid brown. She struggled to hear what the walls were telling her, remaining silent in the wake of the angry words.

Book had woken up a few minutes after he'd passed out courtesy of the adrenaline shot Simon had administered. They needed whatever information they could get from him, and Inara couldn't be safely woken yet. They'd hurriedly filled him in on what they'd discovered on Kinderstood.

Book's voice was heavy with pain and regret. "Jubal Early was a Watcher once; he started his training about ten years ago. But there was something in him that bothered us, something darker than we knew. We learned later that he would sneak out at night, preying on the most vulnerable members of society for pleasure. He hated the idea of playing second fiddle to a woman, hated the idea of a powerful female, and we weren't surprised when he disappeared.

But reports kept cropping up, reports about a bounty hunter with sophisticated combat experience. Most of the arts we practice are ancient so we knew whoever it was had been trained by us at one point. We never caught him, and I didn't recognise him when he attacked the ship all those years ago, he knocked me out too quickly. It was only later that we began to think his vendetta against the Slayer might run deeper than we knew."

Mal's voice sounded hollow. "How did he survive? I booted him inta space." Book shrugged. "I don't know, but somehow he did." Simon's voice was strained and anxious. "Why would he want our children?"

Book's face looked older than it ever had. "I don't know. I don't understand why he would take them, not when he could have taken River."

The girl in question spoke. "Cruelty, wants to hit where it hurts." Jayne closed his eyes against the fury that rose up at that thought. "Ya mean he wanted us ta suffer. Wants ta play mind games." River nodded, her eyes still distant and unfocused but calm nonetheless. Jayne wanted to be reassured by that, wanted to believe she knew what was coming, but he just couldn't get past the rage that swamped him. He hadn't been able to shake off the demon, his eyes flashing red in the dimly lit galley, his blood roaring for revenge.

And he knew he wasn't the only one. Zoe's eyes were like flint, and Mal's face looked like it had been carved in stone. Even Wash looked like he wanted to kill something, and Simon was frozen, the doctor's face a cold mask of hatred.

Mal's voice was thoughtful. "He ain't workin' alone – heat sensors that penetrate that deep don't come cheap, an' bounty hunters ain't known for their heavy payload. Best guess is that he's workin' fer someone."

Book nodded. "Yes, the thought had occurred to me. There is a long history of people who have tried to capture Slayers, and this particular Slayer has long been the focus of unwanted attention. Of greater concern is the fact that the Academy records we managed to excavate indicated interest in any offspring a candidate may produce."

Jayne's blood ran cold. "Yer sayin' those people might wanna experiment on my baby girl?" River's voice sounded out from the corner. "They don't know, haven't yet figured out lineage." Jayne didn't find that particularly reassuring.

Wash's voice was laced with anger. "Why would anybody want to catch a Slayer? You said they were Heaven's Chosen, all high and mightified, what would a bad guy want with them?" Book shrugged. "Revenge, experimentation, attempts to harness the power of the Slayer are not unheard of – the Academy seems to have been founded on the hidden principle that turning such a creature into one of their own would be highly beneficial. Remember, they wanted River alive, thought they could use her as a weapon."

The loud beep of an incoming wave made most of the crew jump, River remaining in place, eyes still distant and unfocused. Mal looked at Wash. "I'ma take a wild guess and say that's our ransom call." The pilot nodded, standing along with the rest of the crew to move towards the bridge.

Mal turned to Jayne. "You stay back, I don't want him seein' ya like that." Jayne looked ready to argue but Mal's voice had a hint of desperation. "If they only gorram hope we have o' savin' our kids is the element o' surprise I want my ruttin' secret weapon held back til the last minute. Unless ya can reign yerself in yer stayin' here."

Jayne glared but nodded, understanding what Mal wanted. He couldn't shake the demon off, not with his baby girl in the hands of a maniac, not with all their children under threat and Kaylee missing.

He sat down next to River, hoping for some kind of reaction, needing the comfort of his wife in the now empty galley. All he got was silence.

* * *

As Mal stood behind Wash, watching the face appear onscreen, it struck him that he'd never hated a person as much as he hated Jubal Early. The man's calm expression and mad eyes made him shiver with fear, and only the knowledge that this man had his son kept Mal from screaming at the screen.

Jubal's voice seemed darkly amused. "Such a prompt answer from y'all. I gotta say, it makes a body feel welcome." Wash glared fiercely at the screen. "Well we'd hate to be rude."

Early chuckled at that. "Good ta see ya ain't lost yer sense o' humour. Now it seems I have somethin' that belongs ta y'all."

The screen switched to a security feed. Two heavy cages were bolted on either side of a dark room, Kaylee's prone form in one of them. In the other…Mal's blood boiled at the sight of his son locked up, at all their children locked up. He opened his mouth to speak but Simon's venomous voice beat him to it. "If you've hurt them-"

Early cut him off. "Ain't none o' your concern doc, all is well, fer now. See I'm willin' take keep 'em safe an' warm til ya give me what I'm wantin'. The girl."

Book stepped forward, his eyes blazing. "Why this, why all this? You could have tried to take her yourself, why go to these lengths? All those children you slaughtered, and now our own kin?" Early gave him a queer look. "You should know by now, why go for the kill when ya can go fer the pain? I hear tell yer lil girl ain't exactly in control o' all her faculties, Watcher, an' I don' want no capable Slayers in my cage. Jus' broken down lil girls I can move easy-like."

Book was shaking with fury at the man on the screen. "You were one of us once – what could of happened to you to make you so cruel?" Jubal shrugged. "Jus' lucky I guess."

Mal grew impatient. "What're your terms?" Jubal smiled at him. "The girl fer all my precious cargo here. I'll even throw in yer lil mechanic. Meet me at these co-ordinates, s'only a day from where ya are now. Be late an' I'll kill one child fer every passing half hour."

The screen flicked off as the co-ordinates appeared on the other cortex. Griffin, a moon only a day's travel away. The location was an abandoned warehouse, and Mal felt his throat go dry as he thought about what they'd seen last time they were in such a place.

He turned to his crew. "Looks like we got some plannin' ta do."

**A/N: **How're we travellin' folks?


	8. Chapter 8

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **I hope I haven't put people off with all the violence. Let me know if I've gone too far or anything. Warning: Sex.

As Wash took them out of the world the crew slowly returned to the galley, fear and anger still warring in their chests. Jayne was sitting silently on the couch, alone. At Simon's quizzical look he shrugged. "She went ta the nursery, said she wanted ta be alone." Simon felt his chest grow tight at the pain in the other man's eyes – it was hard enough with Kaylee gone, he couldn't imagine having her here but not being able to support her.

Mal turned to the others. "He's sendin' us to a warehouse. Chances are the kids an' Kaylee won't be there, I imagine he'd stash 'em elsewhere. So we're gonna need ta play this jus' right. Use River fer bait an' stop him before he can take her."

Jayne stood quickly. "Ya ain't usin' her like that – what if he gets away with her?" Mal's eyes were cold, the eyes of someone forced to make the hard decisions yet again. "Ya got any better ideas? Best we can do is take her in, surround the place, get the locale and get our lil ones back before he does any more damage."

Jayne hated that he couldn't think of a better plan. River could, he was sure of it, but that distant look in her eyes told him she wasn't lucid enough to spell her own name right now, let alone come up with a brilliant scheme. He felt lost, useless, and his inability to shake off his own demon was pushing his control to the limit. Even at the best of time his emotions were heightened when he was like this, right now it felt like a whirlwind of warring anger and fear. He had to get away from the crew before he did something terrible.

Wash entered the galley and instantly saw the conflict in Jayne's red eyes, moving quickly to stand beside him. It was a mark of how much the crew had been through together that he didn't shrink away at the sight of those deadly teeth and predatory features. He spoke low, only Jayne's hearing picking up his words. "Go to your bunk, shake it off. Nobody here is gonna begrudge you that."

Jayne nodded, moving out of the room, ignoring the eyes that followed him. Wash felt a deep sympathy for the man – Zoe's stoic strength was a bonus most of the time, but few saw the breakdowns late at night when they'd all barely escaped with their lives. Wash knew the heavy burden of looking after someone who kept their emotions close to their chest. With his daughter missing and River withdrawing further into herself Jayne's already short temper must be frayed to breaking point.

Mal sighed. "I know this ain't how we all want it ta go down, but you saw what happened on Kinderstood – I ain't losin' my son, I ain't losin' none of my crew no matter how lil they are."

A weak voice made all their heads turn. "What happened?" Inara was leaning heavily against the doorway, struggling to stay upright with her head throbbing so badly. Simon ran to the infirmary for a smoother while Mal moved quickly to her side.

Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked around. "Where are they? The children, Kaylee? Where is my son?" Mal felt tears prick his eyes at the dawning horror in her voice, and he wrapped his arms around her as she fell, sobbing. He tried to sound reassuring, knowing he fell far short of the mark. "Don't you worry now, we're gonna get 'em back, I promise you. We'll get 'em all back."

As the violent sobs wracked Inara's body Zoe felt her own heart breaking. It was as if Inara was letting out every emotion the crew was feeling and the pain radiating from all of them made Book sick to his stomach. He watched as Mal carried Inara back down to the infirmary before he turned to Zoe and Wash. "I think I'll go and sharpen my weapons."

Wash waited until they were alone before turning to his wife. A single tear was rolling down her cheek and her face too still, too calm. He wrapped an arm around her, relieved when she leaned into him. Her voice sounded hoarse and tight. "I want my sons back. I want them in my arms, I need to feel them."

Years as a military woman were wiped out by the pain of being a mother, and when she finally turned, sobbing into her husband's arms, Wash felt his own tears stream down his face.

* * *

_It wouldn't work, couldn't work. Too many variables, not enough control. Death raining down on all of them like acid poured from heaven, the loss too heavy, the burden too great. Mal would fall first, followed by Jayne, the bullet ripping through his skull. Wash was next, then Book, both lives extinguished in the deadly explosion._

_Simon followed more slowly, the inevitable infection undaunted by his ministrations, his pain addled mind unable to save him. Kaylee's neck would be broken by cruel hands, falling down next to her dying husband._

_Zoe would survive, barely, but all their greatest gifts, all their tiny presents would be destroyed, and the earth would grow black. Her soul would become black as night, and her own bullet would seal her fate._

_Because of her, all because of her. _

_But there was another way, the reality was not yet set in stone. His heart would break but their little gift would survive, along with the others. It was the only way._

* * *

Griffin appeared in the front window of Serenity exactly 23 hours after they had taken off, and Wash tried to keep himself calm as he the ship broke atmo. Zoe was with Mal checking over their ammunition stores and fine tuning their plan. Book and Simon were arming themselves, Inara still sleeping in the infirmary, her anguish and head wound exhausting her.

Jayne lay awake in his bunk. River had been staying in her old room during her withdrawal into herself, unwilling to force her breakdown on him. It was agony, the thought of his little girl in the hands of that monster, his wife drifting farther and farther away from him, and his heart pounded heavily with anger as a tear slipped down his face.

He jerked upright when the hatch to his bunk opened and thin legs crept down the ladder silently. River stood in the centre of their bunk looking thin and frail in the short nightdress she wore, her eyes lucid and focused for once. He opened his mouth to speak when she came to him, rushing forward and planting a fierce kiss on his open mouth.

His eyes closed at the pleasure of touching her again, his body responding with violent need, the lack of contact over the last few days leaving him hard as a rock. Her face was wet with tears and he knew she felt his own, the fear and anxiety swirling around them like a suffocating cloud of anguish. This wasn't about sex, wasn't about pleasure; it was about comfort, solace. He wrapped his arms around her as she straddled him, the thin gown sliding up her legs as he gripped her thighs.

They felt the gravity shift as the ship broke atmo. She worked quickly, not waiting for niceties, simply unbuttoning his boxers and impaling herself on his rock hard cock.

His eyes flew open at the feel of her clenching tightly around him and she set a punishing rhythm that quickly had them both panting and moaning. She pushed him back onto the bunk, riding him hard, his hands gripping her ribcage tightly as she writhed and moaned. Her nails left bloody trails across his chest, his demon eyes flashing as he growled.

He sat up, meeting her thrust for thrust, driving himself into her night cool body as the bloodlust began to rise in his throat. When she tilted her head he didn't hesitate, sinking his teeth into the scar he had left on her neck years ago, snarling as the rich blood filled his mouth.

She was clawing and writhing at him with desperation and at the first prick of his elongated canines against her skin she came, hard, mewling and screaming her release. The sat like that for a moment, breathing heavily, the tears still streaming down her face and onto his neck.

She looked at him with eyes full of regret and a strange feeling of dread crept over him. As he felt her hand trail slowly up his back and against the back of his neck he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong. At the first pinch of her thin fingers against the nerve in his shoulder his eyes began to feel heavy, his body forced into sleep as he passed out.

The last thing he heard was her whispered "I love you". As he fell into unconciousness he knew he was losing his mind.

Because it sounded like good bye.


	9. Chapter 9

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **I know, I know…it's been ages. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this story, you've all been so damn generous and I've desperately wanted to but life did that thing where it got in the damn way. I was trying to get back to it and decided to reread your reviews – that did it. Suddenly I got my muse back, and it's all thanks to the lovely feedback y'all always give me. I'm back on track now and really excited to see what you guys think about the things that will happen with this story – FYI the road will not be an easy one.

* * *

Early looked around the bunker in which he'd stashed his loot. The mechanic was trussed against the far wall, the five little ones tied next to her. He knew she'd stay calmer if the little ones were close to her, but he couldn't help wondering how her tears would taste if he broke a small neck or two. He smiled to himself, remembering Kinderstood. The mothers there had begged, had pleaded, had gasped out their agony between their tears.

He wished he'd taped it.

The scrap of the door to the underground bunker they were in had him aiming his weapon in a heartbeat. The girl who entered the room was thin and pale, her blue dress hanging from her frame, her eyes lost and bewildered. She moved slowly down the steps, eyes flittering around the room, blinking when they finally rested.

Those eyes, those huge brown eyes. Lost and terrified, he could see the madness swirling in them, the sight filling him with perverse joy. This was the Slayer? The mighty girl he had been trained to fear and respect for so many years? This pale, emaciated little thing who could barely hold herself upright, who looked as if she was too mad to eat let alone throw a punch?

He fought the urge to chuckle, carefully holstering his weapon. He moved slowly, still wary that the girl was meant to be all powerful, nodding in her direction. She tilted her head, not even glancing to where her crew mate and the children sat shaking.

Her voice was light and shaky, as if forming the words was almost too much of an effort for her battered brain. "She comes, she was good, a trade now?" Early nodded once, moving to untie Kaylee's ropes, the mechanic pushing him away as soon as her hands were free. She quickly helped the children, grasping them to her tightly, glaring at Early before turning expectantly to River.

The girl didn't even acknowledge her presence, standing still and silent. Kaylee swept the children into her arms, Jason and Derrial each holding the sides of her pants as Jack, Marina and Lily were clutched to her chest. She looked to Early, who simply shrugged, nodding to the door. He had drawn his weapon once more, aiming it carefully at Marina's head lest River decide to make a run for it.

However it didn't seem likely, and Kaylee was becoming more and more terrified at the sight of River's blank eyes. If this was a plan she would have given the signal, any indication that things would be alright. But she just stood there, tangled hair around her shoulders, and Kaylee struggled to hold back her tears as she moved towards the stairs.

River's words echoed around the room, her head not turning when Kaylee passed her, ignoring Lily's outreaching arms. She kept her eyes focused on Early. "Family is important, to be called on in times of need." Her voice had a hopeful tone, and something about it made Kaylee pause ever so briefly. But Early waved her on, keeping his voice calm as he approached River.

"That's right, real important. That's why yer here ain't it? Ta help yer family?" Kaylee was out the door, barely able to hear River's low response. "I can see the stars." Kaylee fought back tears at the lost, lonely voice of her friend, trying to stay strong. She just had to get back to Serenity, just had to get the others, they'd know what was happening.

There would be a plan.

There had to be.

* * *

Tears.

Hot and wet and salty.

River felt them cascading around her, felt the relief of her crewmates as they held their children. She felt Jayne clasp their daughter tightly to his chest, felt Simon shaking as he gripped his wife and child as they tumbled to the floor.

She felt Zoe and Wash wrap strong arms around their sons, felt Mal fighting back sobs as he grasped Jack. She felt Book's relief, felt Inara's barely conscious joy at having her son returned.

And then she felt the fear. She felt them wonder, felt Kaylee ask what the plan was, felt her crewmates, her brother, her husband fill with terror as they realized what she had done.

They would search. She knew they would search for hours, armed to the teeth and desperate to find her, stripping the planet bare until them found the take-off burns of the ship she was on. She knew they wouldn't find her, knew they would return pale and torn, joyful at their children's return and simultaneously terrified for their missing crewmate.

She knew things would grow cold, grow difficult. Knew the road ahead was rocky and lonely.

But they were alive. Their hearts beat, their lungs filled with air.

And as Early brought the butt of his gun to her head, desperate to knock her out after hours of her insane rambling, she knew it was worth it.

It had to be.

* * *

Simon's hands were shaking. He'd checked over all their children and his wife, relieved to find them in perfect health although shaken. When Kaylee had realised River's sacrifice she had burst into tears, finally falling into a fitful slumber. The rest of the crew were little better, the shock of River's disappearance tearing through the joy of being reunited with their children.

Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Book had searched for hours, eventually uncovering the bunker Kaylee had described. But they'd also discovered the fresh take-off marks, the sight of the scorches along the ground chilling their blood. They had returned, exhausted and miserable, and they had taken off into the black, desperate to find their girl.

But they had nowhere to look, no hint of where to go. They were headed for Badger now, their only source of knowledge, and the silence on the boat was deafening. Jayne had disappeared into his bunk, taking his daughter with him, and Simon had slipped down to check on them a while ago. The mercenary was wide awake, struggling to control his breathing as Lily lay curled on his chest. The little girl wasn't asleep either.

Jayne's face, the demonic visage Simon had thought he'd gotten used to, was now terrifying. The anger burned hot, and Simon prayed they found his sister soon, unable to think of what would happen without her.

He now stood in the infirmary, struggling to hold back tears. She'd regressed so far back to her old self that he wondered if she would ever recover. All the strength and power of a Slayer were apparently no match for her shattered mind, not after the horrors she'd seen, and he sat heavily on the infirmary bed, curling into a ball.

He felt the hot tears slip down his cheek. His sister, his beautiful, sweet, strong little sister was gone. He struggled to control himself, twisting his body. The new angle made the light bounce off something on the ceiling, and he looked up curiously.

The corner of an envelope poked out from the crack in the ceiling, and his tears stopped briefly as he reached up, pulling it out. _Simon_. Her elegant handwriting was scrawled across the front of the envelope and he tore it open, desperate for any hints she had left him.

_Simon,_

_It's time to go back, all the way back, back to the beginning. Don't be a boob, Simon. Be brave._

_The girl fades away, back to the essence, only escape. The darkness encroaches, don't be afraid._

_The flower will remind the monster of the man, he needs to be reminded. Look after him. _

_Don't be a boob, Simon. Be brave. Family is important, stronger than the sum of its parts. Fighters and lovers and healers of body and soul will be needed. She must keep flying._

_Love seems to lack appropriate depth of feeling, but it is the only word available._

_I love you Simon._

_R_

An hour later he had read it through and through several times, and the tears were still falling down his cheeks. He wiped his eyes, standing to take the letter to the Captain.

* * *

Niska's eyes gleamed with excitement as he viewed the specimen. It had taken six men to subdue her long enough for the tranquilizer to take effect, and they'd had to triple the dose just to make it work. But it was worth it. Her thin body and tangled hair made her look more like a lost waif than an ancient fighter, but he knew this was her.

River Tam.

Finally, after so long, they had her. Dr Wu was performing the preliminary examination as Early twitched in the corner. The man had been anxious about something for a while, but seeing her knocked out by the drugs seemed to bring him some form of calm.

Niska turned to him. "So, you haff fulfilled your desire. You haff captured a Slayer." Early nodded. "Does a heart good ta see her brought offa her high horse." He eyed the restraints around her ankles and wrists. "Might wanna reinforce them."

Niska looked at the steel manacles and raised an eyebrow. "Ze only sing stronger is Tigant, it seems to be overkill, yes?" Early shook his head. "Don't be underestimatin' no Slayer, bad idea." Niska was about to argue when Dr Wu's calm voice filled the room.

"Sir, I think you should see this." They moved over to where the girl's bare body was stretched along the table. Wu gestured at several small, thin lines on her flat stomach. The were silvery pale, barely noticeable, and Early looked up at the Doctor.

"So? Ain't nuthin' but a few scars, I didn' put 'em there."

Dr Wu looked at Niska who finally caught on, chuckling. He smiled at Early, the expression making him look like a snake.

"Mister Jubal Early, you haff little experience with this yes?"

Early narrowed his eyes. "What's goin' on?"

Niska laughed jovially. "Zis is wonderful!" He grinned at Wu. "Sink of ze possibilities!" Wu nodded as Early began to grow impatient. "What the _guai_ is goin' on?"

Wu smiled at him. "River Tam has given birth."

**A/N: **How're we travelling?


	10. Chapter 10

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Hope I don't lose you guys at the end of this one.

Niska frowned at the man in front of him. James Gyre, head of security, tried not to tremble at the cold, black eyes of his employer. He tried to keep his voice from shaking. "She threw two men through a wall and snapped the neck of a third without blinking."

Niska shrugged. "Vat is ze problem? Zey vanted a fighter, no?" Gyre shook his head. "This was before they even left the house sir – they weren't targets, they were staff members."

He sighed. "Sir, it's the sixth time she's been sent back. She's too volatile, nobody can use her."

Niska narrowed his eyes at Dr Wu, who was standing in the corner, looking gravely concerned. "You said zat we could make her work, zat she would be useful." Wu looked frustrated. "We are trying Sir, we really are. But something is wrong with her. We've been working on her for months, I don't know what else to tell you. Her psyche has splintered; she's regressing into some kind of animal. We've had to contain her in a Tigant enforced cell, we can't even get close enough to sedate her."

Niska stood, his anger growing. "Zis girl, so much trouble and now you tell me she is useless?" Wu shook his head. "Not entirely sir. Her strength, her speed, her agility – it's like nothing we've ever seen before. I'm…I'm not even sure she's human."

From his position in the corner of the room Early watched the proceedings with an amused expression, already seeing where Wu was heading with this train of thought.

Niska clenched his fists. "Vat use is any of zat if she is too insane to be put to work?" Gyre stepped back as Wu moved towards Niska's desk. "Sir, all that power is too much for her brain, the neural stripping has destroyed too much. She's broken, worthless. But imagine if all that was somehow slightly diluted – imagine if we had gotten to her much younger, before all the damage."

Niska's eyes grew wide. "Ze child – you vant to find ze child."

Wu nodded. "Yes sir, whatever offspring Tam has created would be priceless, we could harness all that potential."

Niska nodded, looking slightly calmer now. "But how vill ve find ze girl?" Wu smiled. "We ask Tam where the child is."

Niska shook his head. "Tam cannot even remember her own name, how vill ve get zat information?" Wu's smile grew sharper. "Pain can make people do many things they wouldn't otherwise do."

Early stepped forward. "Maybe I can help with that."

* * *

Early, Niska and Wu all looked through the reinforced glass at the subject inside the room. The hospital gown was far too big on her emaciated frame, torn and shredded in places by the constant movements of her hands. She was little more than bone and sinew, her hair matted and tangled, her skin covered in self-inflicted bruising and nail marks. The doctors had long given up trying to force her to eat or drink, now simply pushing food and water through the door. Occasionally her body would demand sustenance but her shattered mind could rarely allow her more than a few sips of water and a few bites of plain food before the madness overtook her once more.

Initially the care of the creature had been paramount, but the lethal hands and feet and the animalistic demeanour meant that adjustments had to be made. Once a week the sprinkler system was turned on to rinse her off, but other than that she was largely left alone.

Niska's face grew dark as he surveyed the thing he had spent a fortune trying to find. The girl had regressed further and further, now seeming little more than an animal, useless. His dreams of a vast army of psychic assassins designed to obey were shattered. The child was their only hope.

The mane of hair hung limp around her face, hiding her features. The creature paced back and forth, a slew of incomprehensible gibberish spilling from her lips, interspersed with snarls and growls, her stick-like arms flailing wildly as she spoke.

"Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink flying high through my brain sizzling crackling waiting waking wondering wandering through the desert storms and still unquenched thirsty and lost and lonely and desolate the wasteland of atoms and I, Tiresius, alone to see the before and the now and the to be and the forever again and again and again unchanging and unwelcome…"

She stopped briefly, as if seeing something in front of her, bursting into delighted laughter, the childlike noise sending shivers down the spines of the observers. The laughter quickly turned to tears and sobbing, wild cries of anguish as she sunk into the centre of the floor, her head clutched in those thin hands.

Niska turned to Early. "You really sink ve can find out vhere ze child is hidden?" Early smirked. "I dunno, but it's gonna be fun trying."

He waited for Wu to punch the entry code into the control panel before entering swiftly, his gun drawn and aimed at her skull. She didn't even turn to acknowledge him from her position on the floor, her head down as the door locked behind him. He glanced around the sparse room. There was only a thin mattress thrown in the corner of the room, as well as a toilet. Nothing more. She'd had a cot once, but it had been removed when she'd somehow broken it into spears and destroyed an orderly's leg.

Suddenly her head snapped up and she stood, raising her eyes. When those big brown orbs locked onto his Early briefly felt a moment of terror. This wasn't a girl, a woman, a weapon. This was a Slayer, pure and undiluted, her mind devolving so far back that she was barely more than a violent animal.

But her body still bore that proud bearing, her eyes blazing with their swirling darkness, and her voice had an eerie calm to it. "You're weak, Jubal Early. So frightened by the fairer sex, dominance is your night light, a blankie you cling to for protection."

His lip curled at her words. His eyes raked over her thin body, the skeletal frame visible through the tears in her hospital gown. There was bruising across her visible ribcage, her arms marred with more needle marks than a Crymeth addict. It wasn't attractive but it gave him an idea. He smirked – the girl might talk tough but her mind was too shattered to fight back, and her body was there for the taking.

Her eyes glazed over as his thoughts filled her mind. The damp veil of insanity that rested over her psyche was pierced by a single electric beam of light. He wanted knowledge, he wanted power, he wanted to take what wasn't his.

An ancient hum settled in her bones, thrumming through her system as the prehistoric magicks that had created the Slayer all those eons ago found a new outlet for their power. As he took a step towards her the thrumming grew stronger, feeding her starved brain with a knowledge that no human before her had ever possessed.

Early suddenly became aware of a pressure in the base of his skull, a steadily growing weight that grew more intense with each passing second. His eyes widened as he looked into hers, the whisky brown now a terrifying black. The pressure was growing and growing and he gripped the sides of his head as he felt blood trickle from his ears and eyes and mouth, dripping down onto the floor.

She smiled at him, the sweet, childlike expression more terrifying than anything he'd ever experienced. She whispered one word.

His world ended.

_Boom._

* * *

Mal looked to where Jayne was sitting at his weight bench. Lily was having her afternoon nap, and her father looked anxious. He always did when she was sleeping, always seemed more on edge than usual, desperate for her to wake up, to hold her in his arms. He held a piece of paper in his hands, one Mal had seen again and again ever since Simon had discovered it.

Mal looked at his mercenary, the demonic visage unsurprising. He'd worn it every day since the day she disappeared, had been unable to shake it off ever since. He was quiet, withdrawn, his bulky frame looking gaunt with exhaustion. He had stopped eating normal food, had only been able to digest small amounts of blood they procured from med facilities. Simon had theorized that his demonic heritage was slowly taking over his mind and body, rendering him less and less human with each passing day. Mal would have found it gross once but again, by now he was used to it.

It had been like this ever since she had gone. It had started with the face, the demon now controlling his expressions. He couldn't go on jobs unless they were planning on killing people, couldn't leave the ship unless the planet was deserted. He didn't join them for meals, didn't speak to anyone unless spoken to.

Only with Lily would he occasionally smile, the little girl never shying away from the sharp teeth or blazing eyes, only smiling back at him with delighted eyes. The crew suspected it was only because of her that Jayne ate, or slept, or stayed alive. He would dote on her, the pretty little girl knowing her father needed her, loving him unconditionally. The pair were inseparable, the little girl never perturbed by her father's horrific face or sparse words. It would have been sweet if it wasn't so _gorram_ heartbreaking.

Mal sat beside him heavily on the bench, further than he would have before, wary that the man he'd called a friend was slowly fading away as the monster overtook him.

"Jayne, you can't stay like this, not forever. You gotta start grievin' and lettin' go one day." Jayne raised those blood red eyes to him, his lip curled in a silent snarl. "An' why the hell would I go an' do a thin' like that?"

Mal sighed, feeling older than he ever had before.

"Because…it's been two years."


	11. Chapter 11

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **A reminder that there are 3 new chapters, this is the third, so read the others first! According to my research Serenity was set in the year 2517.

* * *

**January 2519:** Watchers Journal

It's been four weeks now since she disappeared. We found Badger. The man was horrified when he found out what Early had done, he looked ready to break down. I am at a loss as to how we should proceed at this point, we are slowly exhausting our fuel supply, our contacts are of little help. It seems Early has the upper hand at this point – he's disappeared from the 'verse as far as we can tell.

Watchers are not meant to get emotionally involved, but as always this Slayer has set new standards. I fear for her husband and child, for her sanity. Most of all I fear for her. Would this have been avoided if she had never found out about her heritage? Would we have been better not to destroy the life of this poor girl?

What have I done?

**April 2519: **Pilot's Notes

Second fuel valve working at half capacity, impeding speed on take-off. To be fixed on next stop on Kyphon-12.

Still searching for lost cargo. Of highest importance.

**September 2519: **Personal Journal

_It's been nine months now. Jack and Marina are talking more, full sentences. Jason and Derrial are now 3 years 5 months, and Lily did her first algebra sum yesterday. Jayne and Simon fought back tears. I wish to God they were simply tears of joy, but with River still missing…_

_Things are difficult. Every good thing that happens simply serves to remind us of our missing family member. I have tried counselling but few crewmembers are willing, and I admit I am far too close to be of any real service. That poor girl. Jayne and Lily are surviving, but Jayne seems to be slowly losing himself. It is only with Lily that he expresses anything, and even then he can't shake off the demon._

_Every time we get a lead as to River's whereabouts his hopes rise, and with every dead end they disintegrate once more, taking a piece of him with them. Lily looks more and more like her mother every day. She is sweet, already smarter than the rest of us, and she looks after her father. It seems strange to imagine but Jayne relies on her, and she knows it. She is almost 2 and already far more mature than any child I have ever seen. I suppose she does not have a choice._

_Jack and Derrial have taken to hiding Mal's boots, but even our beautiful children are affected by the melancholy that fills the ship. My husband, our Captain, now has the same grief in his eyes that we thought our son wiped out long ago. One of our family is still missing and it is taking its toll on everyone. We need her back. For her husband, her daughter, her brother, her crew._

_And for me. I miss my friend._

**October 2519: **Letter to the Frye's

Howdy,

I know it's been a while since I writ, but things ain't so good round here at the moment. We've lost…a crew member. She's missing, an it's getting terrible hard to keep goin without her. Marina is talkin, I'm sendin you a photo, but Simon ain't doin so well. None of us are.

I miss you, sometimes I wish I was back home, just for a second. Feels like the whole ship can't function without her, an I'm worrying bout her something awful, we all are. We just need her back.

Love,

Kaylee

**February 2520: **Medical Practitioners Journal

Mild flu has affected several ship members, details in personal files. Antibiotics administered along with vaccines for the children. All present crewmembers now back to full health.

It has been over a year now since River went missing. I have to believe she is still alive; I have to have faith that she is out there somewhere. But I don't know. I just don't.

With her mind so fragile I can't say how she will be when we finally recover her.

Truly, I don't care, just as long as I have her back.

**August 2520: **Note to Captain

_Found B positive blood packages at last hospital sweep, took enough for at least six months. No sign of R. _

**November 2520: **The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship,

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

_We'll find you, 'tross, I promise._

**January 2521: **Letter to River

Hi Baby,

Seems stupid ta be writtin to ya but 'Nara says I should. Somethin' bout letting feelin's out. Yer brother started cryin yesterday when he found them pink slipers ya used ta dance in.

Book found him, started crying too. An I watched. Cuz I don't think I know how ta cry no more.

Please, babygirl, please come home.

**A/N: **The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is where the "albatross" reference comes from.


	12. Chapter 12

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **I hope the time jump hasn't messed with people too much, let me know how we're all travelling. Sooo many people wanted them back, and I always knew they'd come into things, so I hope you're glad to see them :)

**March 2515**

**Dr Mathias and I have discussed the possibility of taking Tam's psychic capabilities to the next level. The Reading is astounding, a truly incredible phenomenon, and the concept of telekinesis has been of interest for some time.**

**However none of the literature we have uncovered from the decimated Watchers council has supported any such theories, and even with the fanciful stories that the staff have heard regarding the existence of Slayers such ideas are both implausible and downright laughable.**

**Early attempts to harness such power have only led to further psychosis in the subject, and have failed to produce any viable results. As such the experiment is deemed a failure. Focus will remain solely on the physical capabilities and Reading skills of Tam, rather than such fanciful notions.**

**Experiment Terminated.**

The journal paper was burnt, barely decipherable after the fires that had been lit throughout the old Academy base, but the message was clear. Standing in the centre of what had once been a laboratory Thomas Cobb turned to his brother's Lucas and Marcus, holding out the paper to his siblings. As they both read their eyes went wide, and when Kale entered the destroyed room he was also shocked by the findings.

Thomas briefly thought about the two siblings who weren't present, forcing aside the pain in his heart at being separated from his brothers.

Lucas dug around in the pocket of his cargo pants, taking out the tied scroll of papers they had found at their mothers cabin years beforehand. Vera Cobb's handwriting littered the margins of the ancient parchment, only kept intact through preservation spells.

Marcus took the scrolls and flipped through to the last two, removing them from the bundle. One was far older than the others, years of wear making it almost illegible. The other was newer, the handwriting young and cautious.

Marcus skimmed his eyes over the oldest parchment, lips silently forming the words he had read so many times before.

_And shee will come to them, fyre and brymstone, deadly in her furie. The mynd will open new doors for the Slayer, reveeling grayter powr than ever befor. And shee will destroy them without wepons, without hands, without touch. And they will burn._

_ Beware the new ladie of the night, for she walks roads far darker than ever befor._

_ Beware the brown eyed warrior, for she Sees and Touches what others cannot._

_Beware the Slayer, for she is not what she seems._

He held the paper next to the newer paper, the one from a teenage girls dream journal. It had been scrawled out in a hurry, the writer obviously hoping to capture the dream before the conscious mind hid it once more.

_**March 2000**_

_**Brown hair brown eyes Seeing things others couldn't see. A voice crying out in the darkness, demanding retribution. Death held back by a single dark flower. Immortality enforced. New energies discovered. She is so young.**_

_**An enemy will wear the face of a friend, and only the beast shall know him.**_

_**To lose faith is to condemn the 'verse to Hades. She is not what she seems.**_

_**Beware the Slayer.**_

Thomas took the newer piece of paper from Marcus, turning it over and reading over the name on the back. Several words such as "verse" had been circled with a question mark, the writer obviously unaware of the significance of the term. Thomas supposed that considering when the note was written that wasn't too surprising. The paper was a pale pink colour, the handwriting the messy scrawl of a teenager trying to note down remnants of a dream.

Marcus turned to the others.

"We need to find Jayne, now. Call Lucius, it's time."

As they moved hurriedly out of the room Thomas couldn't shake the image of the name scrawled on the back of that paper. The handwriting was so young, and the myths surrounding her had been so powerful. She had never spoken a prophecy that didn't come true.

_**From the dreams of Willow Rosenberg.**_

As the Cobb boy's left the building Kale hung back, picking up another fallen journal and shoving it into his pack. In his haste he failed to notice the slight disturbance in the dust near the door of a supply closet. When the room was silent once more the man slipped out from his hiding place and looking over the barely intact shelves.

Niska's assignment had been a strange one but he wasn't paid to argue. He quickly found what he was looking for. The bronze urn was covered in dust as well as the soot and ash from the fire, but other than the grime there were no signs of damage.

Gyre sighed in relief. He turned the heavy urn in his hands until the small plaque was visible, wiping away the smudge of soot that obstructed his view of the writing engraved thereupon.

_Aurelius_


	13. Chapter 13

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

Wu paced anxious along the length of Niska's office, his erratic movement briefly reminding Niska of their captured creature. He waited patiently, knowing that Wu rarely got so agitated without a damn good reason. Wu stopped and looked out the window of the office. In front of him was a sprawling station working busily on Niska's orders, and beyond that was a city. Beautifully groomed, well built, clean and modern…and dead. Lifeless. As Wu looked out over the long abandoned grounds of Miranda he tried to calm himself.

He looked up into the nights sky. The Reaver territory that had once forbidden passage to this wasted planet was gone, the few remaining Reaver's now scattered throughout the 'verse. When Niska had required a new station, a new home ground, Miranda had been a last resort. After the bodies had been removed and the ground was swept clean it was declared a dead zone in remembrance of 30 million people who had been killed by the Alliance.

Not a soul came here unless it was to Niska's station, not a man or woman in the 'verse knew the location unless they were on Niska's payroll. Great lengths were taken to ensure the privacy of this place, violence and bloodshed enforcing the policy of silence amongst the employees. It was a state of the art facility, one Wu had been proud to aid in developing after the tragedy that was the Academy raid.

Laboratories, cells, the highest quality equipment, it was all here. Niska's still formidable fortune allowed them to keep running, and his numerous profitable dealings allowed them to continue this research. But now…

Finally the doctor stopped his pacing and turned to his employer.

He tried to control his voice. "Something happened to Early in that room." Niska nodded, he'd heard Early was dead, though he couldn't say he cared a great deal. The man had something wrong with him, and that kind of crazy rarely ended well. "So?"

Wu gestured helplessly. "She…she did something to him." Niska rolled his eyes. "Zis is supposed to surprise me? We haff both see vat she did to that orderly, and to your two colleagues. Zen zere vas dear Mister Frank, who she tore in half. Stupid man, ve told him not to touch her."

He looked away momentarily, still irritated at the loss of a wealthy albeit stupid client. Frank always did have more balls than brains, and it had finally led to his death. Wu shook his head, resting his hands on the desk and talking in a low voice. "Sir, you don't understand. His body was found..." Wu trailed off and swallowed the lump of disgust in his throat at the memory of that body. "It was like his skull…exploded."

Niska shrugged. "So she crushed him to death. She is strong, ve haff alvays known zis." Wu shook his head once more. "There wasn't a single drop of blood on her, no indication that she touched him even once." Niska narrowed his eyes. "Vat are you tryink to say?"

Wu threw his arms up. "I don't know! There is just no way…unless someone planted a small bomb in that man's brain than I just don't know what happened! But we can't keep her sir – none of the staff will go anywhere near that room, not after seeing…"

Niska rolled his eyes. "You are being dramatic – vhere is the security footage from her cell? We can find out vhat happened zat way." Wu shook his head hastily. "Sir we don't know what happened but the feed shut down right as Early entered the room. The last thing it shows is Tam glancing at the camera, then nothing."

Niska still looked unimpressed so Wu sighed, pulling out an image projector from his pocket. "One of the orderlies controlled his stomach long enough to snap this afterwards."

The image was shaky, the holder of the recorder barely able to keep it focused, but it was enough. Tam was sitting cross legged on her mattress, looking more peaceful than she had in a long time. In the centre of the room lay Early's body, the base of his neck looking like a meat grinder had gone to work.

And every inch of the room, with the exception of Tam, was covered in blood and gore.

Grey matter and bone fragments littered the walls like a vile masterpiece of carnage, the red splatters dripping like wet paint. As the shaking projector was slowly moved around the room Niska could hear the faint humming coming from Tam, a soft song, the words barely whispered under her breath. She was rolling something between her fingers, a white marble? His eyes widened as he realized what she was holding. After a moment she let out a girlish giggle and squished her prize between her fingers.

His stomach rolled, barely giving him enough time to grab his trash can before dumping his lunch inside. Niska had seen some gruesome sights, in fact he'd caused many of them, but this was something else. He fought to control his heaving and looked into Wu's concerned eyes. The projector played for a few more seconds, just long enough for the girl to look into the camera with those terrifying eyes and whisper four words.

Niska looked to Wu, who shrugged. "It was a control phrase, one deactivated somehow long ago." Niska looked thoughtful for a moment, understanding the language but not the significance. "Vat do ve do now?"

Wu sighed. "We can't keep her sir – whatever happened in that room…we can't risk it happening again. We have to dispose of her. I've already had a guard confiscate the only copy of the vid – we can keep people from knowing about this. Your clients needn't find out."

Niska nodded, removing the recorder disc from the image projector and snapping it in half. The risk of exposure was too great – if Tam's true nature ever became apparent the backers who so desperately wanted the super-soldier Niska offered would vent their fury with disastrous results. "As soon as we find ze child I vant Tam dead. In ze meantime…is there anything else we can try to subdue her?"

Wu paused for a moment before nodding once. "Actually sir, there is one thing we haven't tried. It will render her almost completely useless but will also help control the violence – her body won't be able to work past the cravings. We could give her Crymeth."

Niska smiled. Following the move from earth that was conventional opiates had become a thing of the past, but demand for drugs hadn't. Heroin had been lost on earth-that-was, but advances in technology quickly removed the need for natural supplies.

The acquisition of the synthetic Crymeth formula long ago had proved a genius move on Niska's part. Now the cheap, easily manufactured, highly addictive drug was wanted on every street corner and gutter in the system. And the only supply came from his factories. Truthfully the drug had been the only thing to keep him afloat after the decimation of the Alliance that had killed so many of his lucrative clients and contracts.

He nodded once at Wu. "Let's give her a taste of ze Crying Game."

Wu paused before he left to carry out Niska's orders. "Sir, there is one more problem. With Early…gone…how will we get a hold of Serenity?"

Niska smiled. "I haff sent Gyre on a mission to retrieve assistance."

* * *

Mal entered the galley, his feet feeling like lead weights on the end of his legs. Jayne and Simon were already sitting at the table, neither man saying a word. Lily was perched on Jayne's lap, quietly allowing her father to feed her the protein he'd made up for her. Her chocolate curls were tied in a loose ponytail, her pretty purple dress clean and well maintained. Jayne's inner turmoil ran deep, but his daughter was cared for as best he could. There was a dark mug sitting next to Jayne but Mal knew it didn't hold coffee.

As the Washburne family entered, along with Kaylee and Inara, Mal tried to remember a time before this. A time when breakfast had been a happy affair, a time when meals were a reminder of the families they had created. Even after two years the pain of losing River refused to fade, the agony of their missing family member resting heavily on their souls.

Mal had read once that families of missing persons often wished they could find the body. At least then they'd know. He'd never fully understood it until now. The stasis, the waiting, the hoping, the misery, it was too much. And underpinning it all was the thought of their beautiful, brilliant girl in the hands of a monster, suffering once more.

If Mal could he would have put a bullet between her eyes two years ago. Death would be better than what she could be going through.

They tried – God how they tried. They all had children to worry about, families to keep together. Lessons were still taught, the children still played games, but the adults longed for a single day to pass when their hearts didn't feel the aching loss. The couples clung to one another, their agony seeming to wipe out their original bonds, until life on the ship was one of barest survival. Only their little ones could bring any joy, any light, and even then things were hard.

Derrial and Jack had asked once where their Auntie River had gone. Kaylee had cried for days. Mal remembered the day that had marked the first year of River's disappearance. The mechanic had run to Jayne, sobbing in agony, apologising over and over again. The mercenary had allowed it for a moment before snarling, frightening Kaylee something terrible as he gripped her shoulders.

"Don't you dare. Don't you dare apologise fer what she did – she'da done it again and again, with you an' the lil ones gone, she wouldn't have hesitated, not fer a second. Ain't yer fault she Saw what she Saw – wherever she is she ain't regrettin' what she did, knowin' you an' the kids are safe."

Kaylee had nodded, sniffling, and had fallen into Simon's arms. The doctor had aged, they all had, his hair showing a single streak of silver that looked out of place on a man barely 30 years old. Simon worked hard every day alongside Kaylee to make sure River's sacrifice was not in vain, but it was getting harder and harder not to slip into deep depression.

As people left the breakfast table Mal sighed, wondering briefly where Book had gotten to. The man had blamed himself for failing River, wishing he could have healed her mind further in order to allow her to fight off the insanity that swept over her. Zoe had been the one to set him straight a few weeks ago. "Watcher, if it weren't fer you she'd be nuthin' more than that scared little girl that crawled outta that box. You set her on her feet and showed her what she was made of, and it was somethin' mighty special. Remember that…I'm sure she does."

The man in question now sprinted into the galley, panting. "Captain, we've received a wave."

As the crew hurried to the bridge, Jayne standing away from the camera so his face wasn't visible, they all held their breath. Even after two years of let downs they still couldn't control the hope that settled over them.

It wasn't actually a Wave – it was an amateur film of the inside of what looked like a prison cell. The camera shook, whoever was holding it was terrified. The brutally destroyed body in the centre of the room would have held their attention if it weren't for the girl sitting on the mattress in the corner, playing with an eyeball. She looked awful; Inara wondered how anybody could survive like that, her captivity having eaten away at all those beautiful long muscles, leaving only an emaciated skeleton. Her dark eyes were sunk into her skull, rimmed with black circles underneath, her hair a tangled mat of brown, and a person didn't have to know her to see she was insane. The giggle the accompanied her crushing of the eyeball was proof enough.

Mal recognised the song she was singing, and looked at Jayne, who had stepped forward at the sight of his wife.

"_The hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne…"_

Lily, forgotten momentarily in her father's arms, had burbled happily. "Mama!"

River's eyes rose up to the camera as if she'd heard her daughter, the hand holding the recorder beginning to shake even harder at being pinned by her dark gaze. She quirked her lips in a terrible mockery of a smile, ghastly on her gaunt face, her voice sounding hoarse, as if her vocal cords had been damaged. "Eta koorum na schmeck."

The feed flicked off, the source unknown, and the crew was silent for a moment. The recording had been saved to the cortex, and Wash flicked it back on repeat. Jayne looked like he was drinking in the sight of his wife, eyes blazing with anger and fear at her unhealthy appearance. He reached one hand forward, skimming the surface of the cortex, looking more alive than he had in months.

The room erupted in fast voices, questions and confusion flying everywhere. They wanted to know what it meant, what she was trying to tell them, desperately attempting to pick out any land marks on the video.

Inara closed her eyes, her arms wrapped around a worried Jack, trying to capture the wisp of a thought that was tickling the outer edges of her mind. It meant something, it always did, but they didn't have hours to spend wondering what. They had no clue when that video was taken, and they needed to find her. The condition she was in had been terrifying, Simon's face going white at the sight of his sister's wasted, brutalized body. She shut out the vile image of the body that had lain in the centre of the room, clinging to that thin reed of thought that had touched her mind.

It wasn't about the phrase – they already knew wherever she was she would be in trouble like that. It wasn't about the body, that much was clear. Inara sighed in frustration – what had River meant?

Finally, there it was. Her eyes snapped open and her clear voice cut through all the worried chatter.

"She was speaking Russian."

* * *

James Gyre flicked through the notes he had stolen from Early's room. He had given Niska the urn and been sent to find information that could help them locate Serenity. There had to be some clue as to how to find Reynolds and his crew – Jubal had done it, so could they. The responses from their hunting teams had been disappointing; apparently the rumours of Serenity's monster and the eye witness accounts of the violent crew had made people wary of taking the job. But there had to be someone they could find, someone who they could use.

Finally he found it, the name, grinning widely as he ran to Niska's office. He passed the lower level guard stationed in the hallway, pausing briefly as he looked over the man. He was tall, very well built, with black hair. His eyes were covered by a pair of sun shades, but something about him looked almost familiar. His eyes were trained straight ahead, the massive arms crossed in front of his chest. As head of security Gyre found it frustrating that he couldn't remember the man's name…something Drake?

The excitement of finding the information in Early's room overrode any concerns about the guard's identity and he entered the office without knocking. He grinned proudly as he entered, taking note of Wu already seated in front of the desk, looking at him expectantly. He noticed the shades were drawn, which seemed strange given the time of day. Niska was known was his demands of natural light wherever possible, some kind of relic from growing up on Petersgrad, an ice planet with long winters. Gyre brushed it off, turning to his employer.

"I've got it sir; I know who we can approach for information." Niska smiled widely, matching the ugly expression on Wu's countenance. "And I haff just ze person to do it."

Gyre raised an eyebrow. "You've finally found the man for the job?"

Niska's smirk grew. "You could say that."

He gestured to the corner of the room. The man stood, smiling. Somehow the look didn't seem particularly comforting. He stayed in the shadows of the far corner of the room, something that didn't seem to bother the usually manner conscious Niska. The man's eyes held a queer glitter that set Gyre on edge.

"Sir?"

Niska smiled. "Mister Gyre, sank you for finding ze name. And now I sink you can help us with something else." Gyre felt a growing sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. He turned back to the newcomer, jumping when he realized the man had moved directly behind him without making a sound.

A strange smile crossed the man's face, his eyes seeming to change colour in the dimly lit room. Gyre knew he needed more sleep – he'd thought for a second he'd seen those eyes flash golden. Niska's voice sounded from behind the desk. "I am very sorry Mister Gyre; we seem to have forgotten the refreshments."

Something about Niska's voice sounded wrong, overly excited. It sounded…smug. "Perhaps zis will teach you to steal from me." Gyre had barely a moment to think about the small amount of credits he had lifted from a rarely used account, an act of desperation when his mother had grown ill.

The stranger's eyes were blazing with some kind of golden light, his lips curling in a smile. Suddenly his face changed and Gyre knew he was staring into the eyes of a demon. He dropped the piece of paper he held to the floor, turning his head heavenward. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come-"

And then he spoke no more.

The man looked down at the body he'd torn the throat out of, a sneer crossing his handsome face. "I really hate it when they pray." He bent, picking up the piece of paper on the floor.

"Why the hell do you want a badger?"


	14. Chapter 14

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Ok so I am very aware that not everybody reading this fic is a BtVS fan – I'm really appreciative that you guys have stayed with this story even if you aren't familiar with that 'verse. Since I'm bringing back…an old friend…from that world I will as always try to keep this readable for everyone. But if I don't, if I get ahead of myself or fail to explain things clearly, then please let me know and I can revise. You're all angels :)

The crew were seated around the galley table. Most of the children had been sent to bed for this discussion, with the exception of Lily. The littlest Cobb was standing on her father's knee, her arms wrapped around his neck, her head buried against his shoulder. Every now and then she would whisper something in his ear.

Since seeing River on that security feed Jayne had felt close to breaking point. Being able to see her but not touch her, not help her, it was killing him. Simon was amazed he'd managed to hold himself together, and he knew it had something to do with Lily's presence. The girl was only 3 but she somehow knew how to keep her father calm. It was both endearing and somewhat terrifying to witness. Even now Simon could see that whenever Jayne would start breathing heavily, as if losing his tenuous self-control, Lily would whisper something that would almost immediately allow him to regain control.

The relationship between the two of them had been a point of interest for a while. Lily was already far more advanced than the other children, and whilst Jayne was the one who fed, bathed and clothed her, it was easy to see that she also took care of him. She was a small child, her long dark ringlets and large brown eyes reminding him far too much of River, and she became almost protective of her father.

When Derrial and Jack, sweet but evil though they were, would try to annoy Jayne it was always Lily who redirected their attention elsewhere. If she skinned her knee or became sick Jayne would become anxious, sometimes near frantic, and Simon had seen her kiss his cheek reassuringly even when it was her own knee that was bleeding. The sight of the huge man grasping his tiny daughter so close to his chest was heart wrenching, and Simon wished River could be there to look after her family. And be looked after.

He shook his head. Those thoughts did him no good, and this was the best lead they'd had in months. It had been four days since they had received that feed, and they kept meeting in the galley every night to discuss new ideas. Kaylee and Wash ahd been working tirelessly to try and determine the origin of the footage but they hadn't been able to as of yet.

Inara had brought up the fact that River had spoken Russian on the first day but nobody could quite place why that was important. Until tonight, when Wash had come sprinting into the dining room after everybody else was seated.

He was breathing heavily, looking shaken. "Niska. Niska is Russian. Niska is _gorram_ Russian. _That's_ what she was trying to tell us."

The pilot looked shaken to his core at the thought of River in the hands of that vile man, and the rest of the crew felt the same. Mal took a deep breath. "Ok, where is Niska stationed now?" Zoe shook her head. "He dropped off the radar sir – after the Miranda wave he lost a whole lot of his high paying Alliance contracts, and nobody knows where he's been since."

Mal nodded. "Right – Kaylee, you and Simon get ta lookin' for him. Cortex feeds, contacts, anythin' ya can think of. Zoe, you, Book an' me are gonna go through any records we can find that might tell us why he wants her. Wash, set a course for Persephone. Badger has more contacts with the underbelly of the 'verse than anyone else we know. We need to talk to him."

* * *

River shook, her skin feeling clammy and cold. She tried to keep her mind focused. Every six hours the breeze that was pumped through the air vents would change. The smell of Lilacs would fill the room, and she'd feel her body responding instantly. She still had enough of her mind at the start to recognise airborne Crymeth. The Tigant walls of her holding cell may prevent her from Reading people but it didn't stop her from thinking.

At least, not at the start.

She couldn't remember how long they had kept up their dosages. The first hit had rushed through her body like fire, cooling and heating her blood, filling her extremities with painful spikes of pleasure. She had floated, drifting, her tormented mind enjoying the brief moments of peace. After three hours it had begun to wear off, leaving only that clammy sensation of being drowned by her own subconscious.

Then, miraculously, another gust had come through, and her body was sated once more. Except Crymeth wasn't designed for long term use on Slayer's, whose metabolisms broke down chemicals faster than normal humans. Whoever was monitoring her had noticed that, upping the dosage minutely whenever the withdrawals kicked in too early. Her body felt like it was being torn in two – one half demanding more of the only source of peace she had found in two years, the other, more ancient part of her mind demanding release from the addictive cycle that restricted it.

After a while hours and days had become blurred, the only real knowledge she had of time was during those brief moments between dosages when her body would begin to enter withdrawal. She wanted to move, wanted to think, wanted to fight, but couldn't force her chemically sedated body to respond to her demands. And whenever her mind cleared enough that insanity was her only setback, rather than addiction, the dependent part of her brain would say _'shhh, don't fight, be a good girl. There is more to come, don't argue, don't protest. Float away.'_

She wanted to float away. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to escape this room and cease their attempts to use her for their own ends. She wanted to be free.

During her brief moments of what could be loosely termed 'clarity' she thought about choking on her own tongue, hanging herself with her own hair, biting open her wrists and letting them bleed out.

Her prehistoric heritage was too strong to allow such methods of escape, always forcing her back into the safety of insanity rather than suicide. She didn't know the date, the day, the time. She didn't know her name. She didn't know who or what she was. In those moments between dosages she only knew violence and rage boiling inside her, her bones humming loudly with a call to arms she couldn't make. A calling, a sacred duty. Impossible – broken girls have no such thing.

She didn't know her past, her present, the pictures and images becoming tumbled until fact and fiction were two inseparable entities, leaving only the lost, broken girl.

Her only memory was of red eyes and monstrous fangs.

Which she found more comforting than she thought possible. She breathed deeply as the air filled with the scent of lilacs, her body betraying her shattered mind and devouring the drug.

She doesn't understand. She doesn't comprehend.

* * *

Wu looked in at the girl in the corner of the room, her thin hands tearing at the pale flesh of her arms as imagined horrors crawled over her skin. He hissed angrily at the orderly standing next to him.

"You see that? That's what withdrawals look like! And if they go on too long we lose what modicum of control we have over her. That's what happens when she doesn't get every dosage just when she needs it – how could you be so stupid?" The orderly shook his head, his eyes filled with panic. "You don't understand sir – someone tampered with the administration device. The machine was short circuited, so it didn't send in the latest dose for some reason."

Wu rolled his eyes. "And how do you know someone tampered with it and it didn't just have a fault?" The orderly looked slightly more confident now. "Because a fault wouldn't pour water onto itself or cut its own wires."

Wu wanted to hit the man in front of him but knew he was right. He narrowed his eyes. "Order a change of personal on this floor – I want every person rescreened and double checked, understood?" The orderly nodded, moving away down the hall as fast as his fat legs could take him.

Wu watched the girl thoughtfully for a moment, his expression dark. She had stopped scratching and was rocking back and forth, humming that strange song once more.

His lip curled in disgust at the useless girl who should have been his masterpiece. "So, it seems you have a friend."


	15. Chapter 15

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **I hope everyone is excited in the lead up to Christmas – hooray!

The ship was filled with nervous anticipation as Persephone appeared in front of them. The knowledge that this might be their last chance to find River was weighing heavy on their minds, and the image of their girl so badly mistreated had burned itself into their retinas. A week had passed since they had mysteriously received the security footage, and the arrival on Persephone couldn't come soon enough.

As usual Jayne would remain back on the ship with the children, his inability to return to his human countenance forbidding his travel on planet. The routine had long since been established – the children would be fed and then hidden away in the secret room of the infirmary, regardless of where they had landed. Since Early had broken in and stolen their most precious cargo two years ago the secret room had undergone further reinforcement. Heat proof metal restricted the use of body sensors, and several traps had been laid for those who didn't know what they were getting into.

It was night when they arrived on Persephone, Inara and Kaylee staying back with Jayne as Wash, Zoe, Book, Mal and Simon proceeded through the dark to Badgers' offices. Before landing the crew had eaten their dinner together, the children seeming to sense that their parents were on edge. The children had been taken to the back room where Kaylee and Inara would stay with them, whilst Jayne would remain in the infirmary as a guard.

As the rest of the crew left the ship Inara tried to stay calm. Being back in the room brought back far too many memories, and the children were antsy and uncomfortable. Jason, already the most mature at not even 5 years old, was trying to distract his twin and Marina, whilst Jack was clinging to Inara. And Lily…

Inara looked around the room. They'd been in here only half an hour and she'd watched them nearly the whole time – where was Lily? She struggled to control her breathing, nodding for Kaylee to stay in the room while she opened the secret door. In the infirmary Jayne was seated against the far wall, the massive Callahan locked and loaded at his side. Lily was seated in the corner by the wall, her father's massive body blocking her from view of anyone who entered the infirmary.

Inara was about to say something when she realized that Lily's quiet little voice was sounding from the corner. The ex-Companion strained to hear what she was saying.

"Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow,

From my books creases of sorrow – sorrow from the lost Lenore –

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore,

Nameless here for evermore."

The ancient poem sounded in a child's voice enough to bring tears to Inara's eyes. Jayne wasn't looking at his daughter but he had one thick arm wrapped around her middle, holding her tiny body to his side. Lily was resting her head on her father, the small book from which she read held in even smaller hands. Inara recognised the book.

_Derrial and Jack grinned from under the tree, the latter's voice piping up loudly. "Mama! Santa came!" Inara grinned indulgently from her place at the table. The little tree was set up in the corner of the galley, its twinkling lights illuminating the room. Paper cranes and flowers hung from the branches, the spoils of Kaylee's crèche spending hours on the homemade ornaments._

_Jayne was seated on the couch with River perched in his lap. Their little girl, only six months old, was curled against her mother's chest fast asleep. Book held Marina in his arms as Simon and Kaylee brought platters of breakfast from the kitchen. Jason was seated on his mother's lap, one tiny hand reaching out to tickle Lily's little toes. The baby giggled softly, bringing an enchanted smile to Jason's little face._

_Mal and Wash were bringing coffee from the kitchen before the presents were opened. Derrial and Jack had woken the ship up far too early, but it was hard to feel any anger at the sight of their joyful faces, and even Jason, usually so solemn, looked excited by the hubbub._

_As the presents were passed around River hummed a soft little song under her breath, her big husband uncaring of the contents of the brightly wrapped packages, solely focused on his wife and daughter wrapped in his arms. Badger had sent through several packages filled with toys and children's books, making Inara and Kaylee laugh at his over the top generosity. They were due to see him in a few days, his eager face begging them to come for a visit during the holiday season._

_The Cobb boys had sent through several parcels of real food, as well as a few bottles of the dangerous moonshine for which Lucius was known. Jayne and Simon had grinned at the sight of all the alcohol, and Wash had joked that they'd be flying crooked for a month. _

_When Simon handed River the package she had opened it with one hand, the other balancing Lily on her chest carefully. She'd run her fingers over the worn leather binding, the faded gold letters proclaiming 'Edgar Allen Poe'. She had flipped it open and read a line. "And neither the angels from heaven above, nor the demons down under the sea, could ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee."_

_Jayne had smirked. "Should be bout you baby girl, what wit' all these angels an' demons all round ya." River's eyes had glazed over and a single tear had slipped down her cheek before she shook her head, breaking the spell of whatever reality she was looking at. She had thanked Simon quietly, her daughter clutched tighter to her chest as she tucked her head into the crook of Jayne's neck._

_The mercenary had looked at Simon curiously, but the doctor didn't know what to make of her behaviour either. Then Derrial had begun begging his uncle Jayne for "scawy face", which for some strange reason the children all found hilarious, and the day had gone on._

Inara felt a tear trickle down her cheek at the memory of their once happy ship. Lily was now rubbing a soothing hand over her father's thick arm, and the sight of the little girl comforting her massive parent with his terrifying face was too much for Inara. She slipped back into the hidden room, careful to lock the door behind her.

* * *

Mal struggled to control his fear. The front door of Badgers building had been torn clean off the hinges. When they'd walked through the hallway they'd seen bodies littered over the floor, recognising the faces of Badger's guards and employees. Throats had been torn out, strange tears in their flesh that looked like bite marks had left blood splattered throughout the hallway, and it was with great trepidation that he pushed open the door to Badgers office.

Zoe and Mal had their weapons drawn and Book was guarding the rear as they peered into Badger's dimly lit office. Chairs had been strewn about, tables overturned, and when Mal heard the noise from the corner he whipped around, pointing his weapon at what he saw.

The man couldn't have been more than 30 or so, his hands shaking as he aimed his weapon from behind the overturned table he where he was hiding. His brown eyes were wide with fear, the gun shaking in his hands as he tried to aim. He was wearing the guard uniform Badger had issued several months ago, his handsome face filled with terror.

His eyes went wide with recognition. "C-c-c-aptain Reynolds?" He stammered as Mal nodded his head, noting the wave of relief that passed over the man's frightened face. He lowered his weapon, shaking as he sat back on his haunches, his head in his hands. His voice was muffled as he spoke, seeming to fight back tears.

"T-t-they came through an hour ago. I d-d-don't know w-what h-h-happened…one second we were eating l-l-lunch and then…" His voice trailed off before his head snapped up, eyes filled with concern. "Y-y-you have to help him – he's hurt, I d-d-don't know if he's even alive."

Mal strode over to behind the table the man was hiding against, pausing when he saw Badger's body. A massive wound on his head was evidence of how he'd fallen. Simon rushed over, quickly checking the man's vitals. "He's alive, barely. We have to get him back to the ship." The other man's face filled with surprise and then concern once more. "C-c-can I come too, p-p-please? T-t-they thought they'd k-k-killed us all, I hid." His face filled with shame.

Wash stepped forward and knelt beside him as Mal and Simon picked up Badger's prone form. "Don't worry, at least you stayed alive. That's the first rule." The man nodded, allowing Badger to help him up. Book had his weapon lowered but still drawn, his eyes narrowed. The man was tall, slightly shorter than Jayne, and had brown hair. His handsome face was filled with worry, the weapon he'd previously held now hanging limply from his side.

Book couldn't say why, but he didn't trust this man.

Zoe stepped forward to help Wash escort the man back to the ship, the Captain and Simon bringing Badger with them. Book brought up the rear, his eyes still narrowed as he comm'd the ship. "We're coming back, bringing a few guests with us. Might want to hide the silverware."

The man looked at Book curiously for a moment but the Watcher simply shrugged. The code had been established long ago, and he didn't trust this stranger enough for him to see the children.

As they entered the ship Wash turned to the guard they'd rescued. "What's your name?" The man flicked his worried eyes around Serenity's cargo bay before turning to the pilot.

"Liam, my name is Liam."


	16. Chapter 16

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **How are we travelling guys? I hope you're all still interested :) Shoutouts to **ljm**, **alisosia**, **CGandJaz, lje100smith** and **Milly616** for their lovely reviews.

The girl in the room paced back and forth. She was sweating heavily, though her face was pale, and her haunted eyes flicked back and forth throughout the small cell. The Crymeth had ravaged her system but her body refused to shut down entirely, not when the mind within, brutalized though it may be, was still active.

He watched through the glass as she flittered around anxiously, her low mumble barely detectable. Occasionally she would stop and tilt her head to the side, as if listening for something far away. On those rare moments she would sometimes stop her erratic movements, her body bending into an arabesque, followed by a pirouette. Her muscles had long since been decimated by the lack of sustenance but what little remained still remembered.

_Her smile was warm as she kissed his cheek. "We've missed you." He blushed as he looked to his brother, the big man looking less terrifying than usual. It probably had something to do with the baby held tightly to his chest, her big brown eyes blinking carefully at her uncles. As he took her carefully he was astounded by how small and delicate she was, though given her mother this shouldn't have been a surprise._

_The trip had been arduous but it was worth it to finally visit their little niece. Serenity's other children were all overjoyed at seeing their uncles, Derrial immediately wrestling with Lucas and Kale, while Thomas picked up the shy but happy Jason. The boys had made growling noises until their 'uncles' obliged, their faces changing into the monstrous visage that for some reason amused the children no end. Lucius shook his head – he'd never understand kids._

_Marcus was wrapped around Marina's finger as the little girl pulled at his hair and giggled, her mother's brown curls tickling the back of his hands. Inara and Kaylee were smiling indulgently – the sight of so many giant men all melting around their children was amusing. Zoe actually laughed when Jack and Derrial tackled Kale's long legs, their 'uncle' falling to the ground in mock agony as they climbed over him._

_Mal and Marcus spoke in quiet voices with Jayne, discussing the latest developments in the 'verse, as well as any news of Reaver hotspots. River walked over to where Lucius stood entranced by the baby girl in his arms, her little hands coming up to very lightly touch his cheek. He was struck by how calm she seemed, those brown eyes holding more wisdom than a baby should have._

_River rested one hand on her brother-in-law's shoulder, the other stroking her daughter's dark hair. "She says hello." Lucius knew she wasn't just talking in that silly way parents did – the little girl gave him a sweet smile as he kissed her cheek, his rough stubble rubbing the soft flesh. She smelt like baby powder and spicy cinnamon, and her mother smiled at him._

"_Family is important."_

Those brief moments touched him deeply as he watched her, her eyes seeming to clear briefly, a look of peace on her gaunt face as she lifted her arms and tilted this way and that like a floating reed. Then her body would string taunt enough to snap bone, her face contorting with agony as withdrawal once again reared its ugly head.

Now her mumbling was growing louder as she paced, her white hands scratching gouges into her arm in an attempt to destroy the crawling insects that only she could see.

"Liar liar pants on fire, a snake in the nest is sneaking seeking, eyes searching sharp but no, never, your logic is faulty, your consumption wrong. Punish the child for the mother's choice, a sinful serpent singing soft songs of sorrow, truth boiling just beneath the surface of the melting pot. End and end and ending again and again, he waits."

Suddenly her head snapped up and she flung herself forward until her face and hands were pressed against the one way viewing glass, her eyes nonetheless finding the man standing on the other side. She smiled, a grotesquely innocent expression on her wasted face, and stroked one hand over the glass. Her large brown eyes were sunk into her skull, but that otherworldly wisdom was still there.

"Poor little duckling – they can't see the swan, not yet, but they will. Fly away duckling, fly away home."

Lucius Cobb took a step back, his eyes filled with tears at the sight of his sister-in-law. He had been at Niskatech for two months, attempting to infiltrate the compound and locate the girl. It had cost him over 4,000 credits but he'd finally secured a security position. It had taken him another month and a half to gain access to the med floor and what he'd seen had terrified him.

The second youngest Cobb remembered the first time he'd laid eyes on the wasted creature who had once been a strong, vibrant Slayer. Now she shook like the addict they had made her, two years of mental torture taking their toll on her body, reducing her mind to a tangled mess of pain and fear.

The Cobb's had set up this infiltration months beforehand with the intent of finding information that could lead them to River. When Lucius had discovered the girl was held in the very facility where he was station his heart had filled with pain. He'd managed to get blueprints of the facility to his brother's but when he'd been recruited he'd not been told what planet they were on. Top secret and all that.

When he'd heard the decision to begin dosing her with Crymeth he had tried to contact his brothers only to find offworld waves were now restricted, heavily monitored after the Early incident. Niska didn't want anyone on the outside knowing about the destructive capabilities of his experiment, and Lucius' plan to let his brothers know his location had failed. He'd been able to send the security footage to Serenity but had been caught before he could disclose the location to the crew, or his brothers.

Now he needed to try again – he had to get her out. His attempt to disrupt the dosage mechanism that was keeping her under Crymeth's vile spell had failed; his access to River spoiled by Wu's carefully assembled team of specialists. Now he had risked exposure by coming here to see her, but he couldn't let his brother's wife stay like this, not for a moment longer.

He couldn't take the facility himself – demonic heritage didn't make one impervious, and there were so many different security codes and specialist teams in his way that he knew he wouldn't make it out alone. Especially not since River looked like she could barely walk a straight line if her life depended on it.

Which, he supposed, it did.

He left the viewing glass and headed toward the security station. He knew they had a working wave machine; he just needed to gain access to it and send a message to his brothers. Then he could disappear until they came and joined the fight to get River out.

He tucked his bulk into a corner and activated the device in his pocket. A few seconds later a loud crash was heard as the small bomb he'd planted detonated, and the guards inside the station bolted out, arms at the ready. He smirked as he entered the now empty room, reaching for the wave machine.

"Ahem." Lucius turned in time to see Dr Wu standing in the doorway, a weapon in his hand. "And what do you think you are doing?"

Lucius shrugged. "Somethin' set off them sensors, I'm jus' tryin' ta contact the other guard station." Wu nodded, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What is your name?"

Lucius straightened, gesturing to the badge on his chest. "John Drake sir, station 12, badge 22545." Wu tilted his head to one side. "Station 12 is currently positioned on the arms level. You are not stationed on this floor – why are you here?"

Wu didn't wait for a response before he looked more closely at Lucius. "Drake…where have I heard that name before?" Lucius shrugged. "No idea sir, ain't been workin' here too long." Wu shook his head. "No…you know, you're the spitting image of one of Serenity's crew. What was the name?"

Lucius had seen Wu surreptitiously hit the silent alarm on the side of the doorway with his elbow, and glared at the doctor. "Drake, sir." Wu shook his head, smiling as he blocked the doorway, his weapon still aimed at Lucius' chest. "No, that's not it – Cobb, Jayne Cobb. I don't remember if he had any brothers."

Wu turned his head slightly at the sound of running footsteps in the distance before turning back with a satisfied smirk on his face. The smile died as soon as he came face to face with the monster before him. Lucius grinned, the movement pulling at the elongated canines. "Yeah, he's got a few."

He punched Wu with enough force to send him flying out the door, but as he stepped forward to finish the job he heard the running grow closer. He sighed as he began to bolt in the other direction.

Wu would have to wait. For now he just needed to escape.

* * *

Simon stepped out of the infirmary where Badger's prone form was now lying, a thin blanket draped over his body. "He's stable, for now. The head wound was bad – he won't be waking up for a while, maybe a few days."

Mal nodded as he looked in at the man he now called friend. Badger had been distraught when he'd learned of Early's scheme, horrified at the prospect of guiding the monster to her. At the time Jayne had wanted to throw him into a wall but Badger's eyes had been filled with tears as he apologised again and again, begging to provide any assistance he could. Even Jayne couldn't deny the remorse Badger had shown as the man had sunk to the floor in horror.

Now Jayne was secreted away in his bunk with Lily. The other children were in there with him, where they would remain unless Mal decided that Liam could be trusted. Whilst Mal still found Jayne's demonic countenance somewhat disturbing the children had never shown any fear of the big man. Mal sighed as he realized there was no reason they should – it had been too long since they'd seen him look any way other than that.

Liam was seated at the galley table while Inara passed him some hot tea. He'd refused any treatment, pointing out that since he'd been hiding they hadn't done any damage to him. Book was sitting across from him with a closed expression while Kaylee patted Liam's shoulder.

"Oh you poor thing, that musta been awful. Don't you worry, Simon'll have yer boss up an' runnin' in no time." She touched one hand to his, gasping momentarily. "Oh, you're so cold! I'll got get ya a blanket, might be shock." Book thought he saw a second of worry in Liam's eyes but it was gone as quickly as it came. He sighed as he turned to Kaylee.

"You're t-t-too k-k-kind ma'am – that m-m-man of yours sure is l-l-lucky t-t-to have you." Kaylee blushed at the compliment from the attractive stranger but Inara noticed something off about his accent. It lacked any Rim tone, but also didn't sound like anything she had heard on the Core. "Liam, where are you from?"

He shrugged. "A-a-around ma'am, nowhere p-p-particular to call home. B-b-badger picked me up off the street w-w-when I w-w-was little."

Inara looked at Mal, who had entered silently with Zoe. The first mate narrowed her eyes. "Funny, we ain't never met you before." Liam shrugged again. "You k-k-know how p-p-protective he is of you g-g-guys, he d-d-doesn't like t-t-to many p-p-people to know about you."

Mal nodded once as Book stood, touching the Captain's arms and gesturing for them to leave. As they stepped into the hallway Book kept his voice low. "Captain, I do not trust that man. There is something…off about him."

Mal nodded. "Seems a might strange that he ain't got a scratch on him, but he looked plenty scared when we found him." Book nodded. "Yes, I know. Just…I don't think we should trust him." Mal nodded again as Wash approached.

The pilot looked edgy. "Captain, we've got a wave, I think Jayne'll wanna be there." Mal nodded, poking his head back into the kitchen. "Liam we're gon' set you up in a passenger dorm, you should lay down fer a while."

Liam nodded as he stood. "T-t-thank-you Captain, I don't mean to be a bother." Mal shook his head, forcing a smile. "Ain't no bother at all, go on now." Liam let Kaylee escort him to his dorm room. Mal waited a moment before nodding to Zoe. "You change places with Jayne – I still don' want him knowin' we got any…silverware…on board. Book, you guard the hallway ta the bridge."

Jayne was tense and uncomfortable at the idea of being parted from Lily, even for a moment, but his fears were lessened when Marcus' face appeared on the wave screen. His brother's eyes were worried and his expression was tense. "Jayne, we got news."

The remaining crew gathered around Jayne as he sat in front of the screen, filled with relief at seeing his eldest brother. "Yeah, we got some stuff happen' round here too."

Marcus looked uncomfortable as he spoke. "Yeah well ya ain't gonna be too happy ta hear this but we can't reach Lucius." Jayne looked confused. "Why ain't he with y'all?"

Marcus sighed. "Cuz we found a lead – needed someone ta get on the inside and Lucius volunteered. 'Cept that was two months ago an' it's been two weeks since we've heard from him."

Jayne nodded. "Ok so we go get him." Marcus shook his head. "Ain't that simple, ain't just 'bout that. Lucius infiltrated a high-tech planet station – we got blueprints aplenty but no idea as to where it's at."

Jayne narrowed his blood red eyes. "There's somethin' ya ain't tellin' me." Marcus sighed.

"Jayne – River is there too."


	17. Chapter 17

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Urge, stupid friggin writer's block. I know exactly where I want this story to go, it's just being a bitch about getting there. Sorry for the long pauses between updates, I really hope you're all still on board. A short chap but please don't worry – I've mapped out heaps, more to come soon!

* * *

Jayne was furious, his voice lowering to a deadly quiet. "How long?" Marcus sighed. "He's been gone 'bout two months – when he waved us two weeks ago it was to let us know he'd confirmed her location."

Jayne was shaking with rage. "Two weeks? You've known fer two _gorram_ weeks where my wife is an' you ain't told me?" Marcus' eyes grew firm. "No, we didn't. How could we? We didn't know where she was, only that she's where Lucius went. If we'd told ya it coulda blown the whole ruttin' operation, they coulda killed Lucius an' moved her somewhere we'd never find her."

Inara lay one hand on Jayne's broad shoulder. "Think about it Jayne – what would you have done if you'd known without really knowing?" Jayne paused for a second. He would have become too consumed by anger to be of any use. He already felt the demonic rage boiling inside of him, the urge to rip and tear shredding at his tenuous grasp of his own humanity.

He relented. "Ok, I know what yer sayin', even if I don't like it." Marcus nodded once, hating the idea of putting his youngest sibling through more pain. "We need ta know where they are – we can't do it on our own, we need yer help."

Mal stepped forward. "Ok, we reckon Niska has her, that'd explain yer brother's security job an' the station. But we don't know any better than y'all where she is."

Even knowing that they needed to think it was too much for Jayne. Mal stepped back as he stood, his red eyes flashing, and moved back to his bunk. The Captain let him go – a few moments with Lily would calm him down more than anything else, and Zoe's quiet presence wouldn't aggravate him the way other people would. Mal almost laughed at the fact that the one person who could keep their monster calm was a little girl not even yet 3 years old.

He sat in the chair that Jayne had vacated. "Ok, we need ta work this out. Y'all got any idea as ta where Lucius was headed?" Marcus shook his head, his eyes following his brother out of the room before meeting Mal's. He sighed. "No – the facility is top secret, he only got taken there afterwards, ain't got no clue what planet it's on. But he did manage to send through some plans, I'm patchin' 'em ta ya now."

As if on cue the wave file blinked through, saving to Serenity's cortex. Marcus wasn't finished. "There's somethin' else – we got some files, think y'all need ta see 'em. They say River is-"

The signal dropped out. Mal huffed in frustration, they must have passed through a dead zone, and there was no way to tell when they'd get that signal back.

"Uh, Captain?" Book's voice was hesitant as his eyes quickly scanned the bridge. "Our visitor would like a word with you." Mal nodded once at Book, letting the preacher know that the Jayne wasn't on the bridge. Liam stood in the doorway shuffling nervously from foot to foot. "C-c-captain, Badger had s-s-some files y-y-you m-m-might be interested in." He passed the thick folder he held in one hand to Mal, who opened it immediately.

The movement triggered the small device secreted in the folds of the file. As the poison gas filled the room Mal only had one thought running through his head.

_Damn._

* * *

_She missed something. She wasn't sure who it was, wasn't sure what it was, but she missed something. The feeling of a small body indescribably connected to her own. The warmth and strength of a demonic embrace, the feeling of completion. Pleasure not created by a chemical, but with hands and lips and teeth._

_A familial connection, a vital piece in her personal puzzle, a bringing of acceptance and freedom, annoyance and happiness, boob._

_A soldier and his companion, but not Companion. A ray of molten sunlight, warming a metal home. A laughing jester, a calm fighter, a mentor who watched. Offspring, laughing and delighted, a king for the little queen she had created, bubbles of elation. _

_Flashes of moments filled with something other than pain and desperation, moments of self-control and inner fire, moments of pride and joy, family._

_Cloud lifted, minutely. Somewhere she had to be, something she had to be doing, someone she once was. Webs of insanity were lying over her brain, thick fog of addiction clouding her mind, rendering memory useless._

_Inside. A light, small but bright, piercing through some of those clouds._

_Serenity._

* * *

For the first time in five days River Tam stopped pacing. The urge was still there, driving her towards the incessant physical behaviour that burned up any and all of her body's meagre resources. The impetus to keep moving in order to outrun whatever fiendish nightmares were crawling up her spine, twisting through her hair, leeching into her skull, under her skin. She could still feel the miasma of the drug in her system, but something was changing.

Metabolise – the processing of a specific substance within the living body. The process through which a substance is broken down and synthesized. Body completing appropriate synthesis of foreign substance, coupled with increasing tolerance for that substance.

Judging by the air density and previous interpersonal examination of the effects of said substance there was no way for a standard human body, especially one of less than average weight and height, to process a chemical so quickly. By all accounts the current dose should leave her dead, a pale corpse with a rictus grin of agony. And yet the bony hands trembled as withdrawal and craving began to set in, began to sink yellow claws of hunger into her skin. The increase in tolerance was impossible, an unexplained phenomenon.

Slowly but surely her supernatural constitution was breaking down this chemical faster than it could be issued. Her body was adjusting. She had felt this before, had done something because of it. If only she could remember. That strange, piercing sensation that was struggling to break the hold insanity and addiction had on her mind, desperate to pierce through the veils of gluggy, humid deceit that had lain over her eyes.

Slowly but surely the ancient, all seeing mind inside of that fragile, damaged body began to regain control, and it was with icy calm that River began to slowly, painfully, climb her way out of the abyss of addiction and insanity that had overwhelmed her for so long. The brain may have been brutalized, it may have been violated, and the psyche may have been pushed beyond the endurance of a normal human being. But it was still the same brain that made Simon an 'idiot child' by comparison, the same brain they had so desired when they first subjected her to the Academy.

The same brain that had unlocked a secret that had led to the destruction of the Alliance. The same brain that housed another, far darker secret, one that had turned Early into nothingness.

It was not the brain of a normal human being. And it was contained inside a creature they couldn't possibly understand.

_Beware the new ladie of the night, for she walks roads far darker than ever befor._

_Beware the brown eyed warrior, for she Sees and Touches what others cannot._

_Beware the Slayer, for she is not what she seems._

Oh yes, beware the Slayer, for the roads she walks are darker than human comprehension. Beware the brown eyed warrior with power lacing through her veins.

Beware the lady of the night, for she is pissed.


	18. Chapter 18

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Starting to get into some action – you've all been so patient, much love and gratefulness to you all :) Little note, a vampire who makes another vampire is known as the Sire, and the newly made vampire is the Childe.

* * *

Jayne leaned against the wall of his bunk. He had told Zoe to sit on the bed with Jack, Derrial and Marina curled up around in her in various stages of sleep. Her other son, Jason, was leaning against Jayne's arm, something he didn't do for many people. Jayne thought it had something to do with Lily's little body curled against his chest, her eyes bright and alert.

Jayne looked at Zoe, who was reading very quietly from a story book that Jayne had in the bunk. If she noticed the paper flowers hung from the weapons rack, or the neatly folded pile of women's clothing in the corner, or the charcoal sketches throughout the small room, she didn't say a word.

He couldn't bring himself to move any of it, couldn't bear the thought of not seeing those reminders of her existence. The little girl on his chest shifted slightly, and he was given another reminder of River. Lily's little bed was tucked into the corner of the room, taking up space that the small area didn't really have to give. It was no matter – Lily didn't like sleeping too far from Jayne, and Jayne couldn't stand the thought of not being able to watch his daughter while she slept.

He tried to remember what sleep, proper sleep, felt like. He used to sleep well, used to lie wrapped around a slim, cool body, used to feel sated and overjoyed at the sound of River's breathing. Now he simply stayed in the bunk, very occasionally catching an hour or two of fitful slumber, broken constantly by the nightmares that wracked his brain.

He didn't seem to need sleep so much anymore. Just another piece of his humanity that was slowing slipping away. The loss of appetite had been a shock. Procuring blood wasn't hard, but realizing it was the only thing your body could use as an energy source sure was. Before he had only craved blood during sex with River, only craved the taste of that firey, powerful, electric lifesource pumping inside her during their most intimate times. But the change of appetite seemed to reflect that his body was more demonic than he thought. His brothers maintained that it wasn't healthy to deny the craving.

_Kale's eyes were compassionate but determined. "Ain't up fer debate Jayne – we all went through it, only not this bad. Could be grief, could be anger, who knows. Either way that pointy horned bastard flowin' through them veins o' yours needs blood. Ain't nobody gonna judge ya fer it, an' that lil girl o' yours needs her Pa fit 'n fightin'. I'm sorry, but that's all there is to it."_

So when the crew had finally been forced to find the other food source or allow Jayne to starve to death the reaction may have been uncomfortable. Jayne was shocked at first to taste the lifeless, flat viscosity of the liquid, the initial consumption making him gag. He wondered if the electricity he'd once felt was because the blood came from a live source, or because it came from River.

He had waited for the judgemental looks, the disgust that his crewmates would surely evince. Nothing.

He wondered what he would be now without them, without Lily. Thinking back to who he was before Miranda, before discovering his past and his future, he tried to regret the loss of the easy, if somewhat lonely, existence he'd once had. He couldn't. Not when he was holding his daughter, not when his wife was out there somewhere, needing help. Not when there was so much to fight for.

A while ago Book and Simon had sat down to compare notes regarding what they knew of the supernatural. Jayne knew it was his own change of diet that had precipitated the talk. Whilst Book had explained clearly that Jayne was not like the vampires of earth-that-was, that his demon was actually a part of him, not an uninvited guest inhabiting the deceased, Simon had looked at things differently. By studying everything he could from Book's notes and past Simon found that Jayne's father had also struggled with the dichotomy of humanity and the demonic aspects of his personality.

It was strange learning about his father. Jayne remembered Vera telling him that his father fought long and hard for those parts of himself that most demons rejected. Simon's theory was that whilst Jayne's demonic lineage may be impacting his functioning as a normal human, it was not in fact a reflection of losing himself.

Jayne wished he could believe that.

Suddenly Lily raised her head, large brown eyes staring into Jayne as she stood on her little legs. "Daddy, don't trust angels, they don't fly."

Jayne looked to Zoe, who shrugged, unsure of what Lily meant. Then they heard the thud on the bridge.

* * *

Niska smiled as the face appeared onscreen. "Iz everythink going to plan?" The other man nodded, a sly grin crossing his face. "Better than I thought, this it too damn easy." Niska chuckled under his breath. "Good. Carry on."

The other man flicked off the connection Wu entered Niska's study. The slim man was fussing anxiously with his ID badge, a habit Niska knew rarely precipitated good news. He fought the urge to lash out at the slim man, but held his tongue. _Not yet,_ he thought. _Zere vill be time for zat, vhen he is no longer useful._

Wu spoke quickly. "The guard – we still can't find the guard who was lurking around Tam, the one I caught at the wave station." Niska huffed, annoyed. "Zis man may know nothing, vhy are you so very vorried?"

Wu sighed. "I think he might be related to Cobb." Niska snarled. "Jayne Cobb? Ze member of Reynolds crew?" Wu nodded as Niska calmed himself, his face growing thoughtful. "Vhy vould he vant information on Tam – our reports say he is little more zen ze muscle, he even tried to sell her once. Zere is nothing about his family in any of ze files, it's like he doesn't exist."

Wu shrugged. "I don't know sir, but regardless of who he is we still can't have Reynolds crew know where we are until the plan is in motion. There are no indications that he managed to send his message through, but who knows what he's doing now?"

Niska smiled. "Zis is not so very bad, maybe. Ve just received vord – ze plan is undervay. Zere is not long now until ve haff our targets."

Wu looked relieved, though still somewhat concerned. "What about the guard?" It was Niska's turn to shrug.

"Find him. Zen kill him."

* * *

Liam grinned at the fallen bodies around him, grateful that he didn't have to breath. Niska said the gas produced a vicious headache and a brief window of unconciousness. It wasn't long, but it was all he needed to get this job done. The entire crew had to be knocked out, so that when they awoke Liam could also claim the effects of the gas, claim confusion. It was integral that his cover not be blown. Of course, there was always Plan B. He flipped open the sheets of paper in his pocket, scouting out the controls for the Firefly. Whilst intergalactic travel wasn't really in his range of expertise, Niska's man had been kind enough to lay everything out very simply.

Easy enough to lock the coordinates in place, disable to wave sender, and they'd be on their merry way. As he finalized the locking mechanism an ugly sneer crossed his face. None of the bodies even resembled her. No matter, he'd get what he wanted.

And man it felt good to be back to his old self! After years of that pesky soul laying over his shoulders like an impressive set of manacles it was refreshing to feel free once more. Not that he ever thought he would be.

When the First had begun to take them back it hadn't taken much to dislodge the soul that had restrained him. Whilst the physical changes were annoying, especially after he'd been used to the tall, dark and handsome thing for so long, he still had to admit there was an element of freedom in returning to his roots. Plus he had to admit the wings had their advantages.

Of course that was before she had come to find him. It wasn't fair, she was supposed to be long dead, but there she was, breathing and alive and full of vitality. The green eyes weren't the ones he remembered from all those years ago, weren't the same trusting portals to a young girl's soul. These were the eyes of a warrior, an ancient one, who had seen and felt far more than anyone would ever know. And they still shimmered with that inner fire that years of heartbreak and danger had failed to destroy. It made him sick.

He remembered snarling at her, remembering the final betrayal before they'd parted ways. Even without a soul the rejected still rankled, rubbed against his ego. He glared at her now, the rejection giving yet another log for the flames of hatred within him. His voice came out raspy, horrifying, the teeth impeding his speech somewhat. "You chose the weak Childe of that mad bitch over me? The weakling who never really gave himself to the night, that pitful excuse for a monster?"

He had hoped was a flinch, an indication that his words stung her. But she'd just smiled that radiant, bright smile that had once captivated his souled self. Her words held no venom, but with eyes like that she didn't need them to. "And I would do it again and again and again. You just don't get it – I need a little man in my monster." The last few words were accompanied by a tone of pity, of sorrow, of mourning.

The rage had consumed him, making him foolish. He had charged, overconfident in his new form, overly sure of his hardened skin, vicious claws and deadly teeth. Big mistake. She hadn't even bothered turning it into a proper battle – a stake may have failed to pierce his skin's protective armour, but the scythe had sung through the air like a nightingale, decapitating him.

And that would have been the end of that. Except someone had collected those ashes, had placed them lovingly in the urn, had sealed the secret container. He knew now that he'd been there for almost 500 years, had been hidden away, dead to the world.

Until Niska had freed him, had given him new life. The vicious little man had introduced him to this new world, this strange existence. He'd been initially overjoyed, until he'd realized what it meant. The one person in the 'verse on whom he wanted to wreck bloody vengeance was dead.

Niska had given him any information he'd demanded, and he had come across a few strange reports. Reports of something dark, something dangerous lurking on a planet far away. A planet called Apricus. He'd gone there immediately, feeling the call of that dark presence, letting it lead him through the thick forests. When he'd found the cabin he knew immediately that it was empty, but her smell was still present on the folded sheets, the worn mattress. Long gone, faint, but there nonetheless, a whisper of what once was.

He'd continued wandering until he'd come to a strange clearing. Each step brought him closer to the barbaric sword plunged into the earth near the lake, each step giving him a greater feeling of dread. When he'd finally come to the sword he knew undoubtedly that he couldn't touch it, couldn't take a step closer to it, and it had told him enough.

She had been alive all this time, had only passed in recent years. And when he returned to the cabin he found something delightful. A faded photograph – six large, burly men, and her. Tiny and beautiful, eyes still filled with fire, smiling happily at the camera. And on each of the men were the same bright, piercing blue eyes that he knew from so long ago.

He had felt the strangest urge to vomit, despite the obvious lack of necessity, as he recognised those eyes. Not hers – those eyes belonged to the father. There was little similarity to the woman, but the eyes and cheekbones confirmed paternity. They were tall, powerfully built, and it made him wonder just what form Spike had been in when he'd helped create the big bastards.

He had left Apricus with a smile on his face. When he returned to Niska the other man had been pleased with his vigour. Liam kept the picture to himself though. He may have lost the opportunity to destroy the woman who had killed him, but he had the next best thing. And when he found the bastard get of his wayward Childe he would destroy them all.

After a little fun, of course.

He sat back and reviewed his notes. And noticed something. There were only six bodies laying unconscious around the bridge. Niska's notes said there were eight crewmembers.

"Shit."

* * *

Jayne took Lily's words seriously as he and Zoe secreted the children under the bunk, tucking blankets around them to disguise the location. As each silently moved up the ladder they walked without a sound towards the bridge where they'd heard that thumping noise.

From their position just outside they could see every single one of their crewmates on the ground. Zoe flashed a look at Jayne, who shook his head. They weren't dead, but there was a lingering scent in the air. Zoe also recognised the strange smell. "Gas bomb," she mouthed.

The heard a voice sound from on the bridge, "Shit."

Jayne nodded when a movement caught both their eyes. Suddenly the co-pilot chair swivelled round. Liam rose, eyes wide, his hands in front of him. "I j-j-just gave them the file, s-s-something happened!"

As Liam looked to Jayne something strange flashed behind his eyes, a look of recognition, his lips almost curling into a sneer before it passed, leaving only the terrified expression of before. Zoe and Jayne each had a weapon trained on Liam, who now looked close to tears.

The air sensors whirred and clicked as the system attempted to pump the last of the dangerous gas out of the bridge. Mal began to stir just as a small sound was heard behind Jayne and Zoe. Jayne didn't need to turn around to feel the terror settle in his chest.

Little Jack Reynolds had obviously crawled out of the in curiosity, and now blinked at the stranger. "Why's people sleepin'?" Liam moved faster than anyone could see, passing Zoe and Jayne and snatching up Jack.

He crooned as he stroked the hair of the now terrified child. "Let's all just stay calm, and maybe nobody will get hurt." Gone was the stutter, the look of terror, and suddenly standing before them was a calm, collected, dangerous man whose brown eyes revealed only glee and malice.

Jayne and Zoe didn't need to glance at one another. Liam's speed, along with the inner struggle to control something, seemed to indicate that he wasn't purely human. Before they could decide what to do a shot rang out, sending Liam sprawling. Mal, still groggy but looking furious, was now sitting up, his gun pointed straight at Liam's kneecap.

"You keep yer gorram hands offa my boy." Jack, who had fallen with Liam, was quickly swept up by Zoe as Jayne stepped forward, eyes filled with hatred. He sniffed the air around the fallen man. Something about the blood from his knee didn't smell right. It smelt…stale.

He didn't have time to think as Mal ordered him and Zoe to take care of the rest of the crew, glancing significantly to Jayne's bunk. As the rest of the crew slowly came out of their drugged induced daze Mal faced off against Liam, who was now standing, seemingly unfazed by the destroyed kneecap.

The man's face had an ugly smirk on it, his eyes flashing strangely in the dim light. Mal ducked just in time, Liam's fist swinging out, denting the wall behind the Captain. Mal returned with a kick that did little to slow the other man, and the two ducked, swung and spun, Mal fighting to avoid the blows delivered with terrifying strength. Their fight backed them out of the hallway, down to the catwalks that overlooked the cargo bay.

Liam sneered at Mal. "Not gonna last long like that, buddy." Mal paused for a second, taking in Liam's position directly in front of the catwalk railing. Mal shrugged once. "Guess I ain't."

He whipped out the second gun he kept hidden on his person, firing three shots straight into Liam's gut, the crack of the shot combined with the dull thwack against flesh bringing a smile to his face. Liam's eyes went wide as he placed his hands over the wound, the impact sending him tumbling back over the railing.

Mal glanced quickly at the body on the cargo bay floor, a grim smile on his face. He bolted back to where his crewmates were now reassuring their children, some arming themselves, others holding their little ones. The crack of the gunshot had been like sweet music in their ears, and when Mal gestured to Simon and Jayne they followed, ready to send the body out the airlock.

Except when they looked over the railing they got a hell of a shock. The body was gone. Liam was nowhere to be seen.

**A/N:** How're we travelling folks? Things will continue to pick up, I hope you're all still interested!


	19. Chapter 19

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Ok so I'm apparently diving right back into this thing – I've got almost the entire story mapped out, and I'm really excited about where it's all going. Hopefully my next lot of updates will be fast and furious!

* * *

Marcus snarled in frustration as the connection cut off. Something had been very wrong, and he desperately needed to get that information to Reynolds, to Jayne. Book especially would need to examine what they'd found, but for whatever reason the _gorram_ connection was cut off!

Thomas appeared at his elbow. "Something's wrong." Marcus nodded and Lucas and Kale entered the bridge of their small ship. "I know, I feel it to. We gotta reach 'em." Lucas fiddled with the cortex for a while but was forced to admit defeat – the problem was with Serenity, not them.

Kale looked at his eldest brother. "We need ta head fer Miranda – iffen that's where the crew reckon Lucius an' River are, that's where they'll go." Marcus nodded as he released the controls to Kale. Thomas cleared his throat. "Think there's somethin' I should show ya, found it not an hour ago. S'from a guy who deals in black market connections – I gave him some info, this is what he found."

Marcus nodded as they all looked at the cortex screen Thomas pulled up. It looked like some kind of advertisement, one detailing a product of some kind. Super strength, hyper agility, enhanced speed, maximum durability…Marcus' eyes narrowed. This was an advertisement for a super soldier. And right there, down the bottom of the page, was the tiny logo for Niskatech Incorporated.

Marcus gritted his teeth in anger. "Get us to Miranda, now."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when the cortex screen flicked to a live feed. They expected to see Reynolds there, having re-established the connection, but instead were faced with an exhausted looking Lucius. All four men clambered around the screen, desperate to see that their second youngest brother was alright.

Lucius looked beyond tired, but he seemed unharmed. His voice was low and fast. "I'm in an office buildin', near Niskatech. It's on Miranda – I'm sure o' it. My cover got blown an' it's taken me three gorram days ta find a working wave sender."

Kale's voice was full of relief. "We thought ya was dead or somethin'." Lucius laughed humourlessly. "Might as well be – they chased me fer a good long time, weren't til night that I shook 'em off. Didn't wanna fly til I had ta, advantage an' all that."

Marcus nodded as Thomas spoke. "How 'bout River, ya got her with ya?" Lucius shook his head, his eyes filled with sorrow and grief. "Nah, couldn' bring her. But we gotta get her out – the things they're doin' ta her…I can't…we jus' needa get her outta there. Now."

Marcus was deeply shaken by the fear in Lucius' eyes. Whatever was happening to River was bad enough to shake Lucius, and Cobb boys didn't shake easily. "Don't you worry, we'll be there soon as we can. We're gettin' ya outta there, River too."

Lucius didn't look convinced, but nodded. "I gotta go – they might have electro tracers, don't want 'em knowin' where I am. Come find me." Lucius reeled off the address he'd seen on the front of the building, before switching off the wave. The four men stood in the bridge, each feeling the heavy weight on their hearts. They feared for their brothers, Lucius and Jayne, and for River. Because every single Cobb boy adored that girl, and every single one knew what it was doing to Jayne not to have her with him.

Marcus nodded at Kale, who programmed in Miranda's coordinates. The eldest of the Cobb's went to the little room they used as a study, opening the various scrolls and files they had collected. It was bad enough Lucius was being hunted, bad enough they couldn't be sure River was even alive, but Jayne needed this information. The whole crew of Serenity needed to know what they could be dealing with when they finally found River.

The wave had cut off just as he was trying to send their information. He needed Book's input, needed the Watcher to examine everything and help him decipher exactly what it meant. More than anything he needed reassurance that what the crew might find when they located River was something that were prepared for, something that they would still want.

Now there was only one chance that this information could get to Reynolds and his crew, one contingency plan that had been put in place a few days ago. And that one, slim chance lay in the hands of a man in a coma.

* * *

Mal snarled furiously as Wash fought with the controls. They had been locked and the wave machine had been disabled. The pilot and Kaylee were working as fast as they could to unravel the damage that Liam had done, but Mal had a sneaking suspicion that it was too late.

The body was gone. Mal, Jayne and Zoe had searched the entire ship from top to bottom. There wasn't even a blood trail to indicate Liam had moved, it was like he disappeared into thin air. Even Jayne's heightened sense of smell failed to locate him, the trail running cold on the cargo bay floor. So they'd torn the place apart. Every bunk, every cupboard, every nook and cranny, every hiding hole or bathroom sink, they'd searched them all.

The secret room, the shuttles, even the air vents that River had once hidden in, they searched them all. Mal even sent Jayne out in a space suit to examine Serenity's bulk, just in case Liam had managed to get himself a suit and hide on the outside of the ship.

Nothing.

Liam was nowhere to be found.

Finally Wash managed to unlock the coordinates, only enough to tell them exactly where they were headed. Mal wasn't particularly surprised by the name of the planet that appeared on the screen.

Miranda.

The source of their worst nightmares and greatest fears, the location of the most evil act the Alliance had ever committed. Mal fought the urge to chuckle. Of course it was Miranda.

Jayne appeared in the doorway to the bridge. He'd passed Lily over to Zoe and Book, who were looking after the children while Inara struggled to calm down a terrified Jack. He nodded once at Mal, who turned back to Wash and Kaylee.

"You two keep tryin', we're gonna start searching again."

They were about to leave when a face suddenly flicked onto the wave screen. It was a pre-recorded message, one that had been attached to a timing device. Jayne felt a snarl rumble through his throat at the sight of Niska's smirking face.

"Hullo, Captain Reynolds. It has been far too long. But not much longer, I suppose. Please forgive my emissary, he iz not yet accustomed to zis 'verse. Ve look forward to having you here at Niskatech, especially any little friends you may haff for us. Ve vill be meeting all of you, ze real you, shortly. Enjoy ze trip."

The message switched off, leaving only the wave screen, which still couldn't send or receive messages. Mal turned to Jayne. "You get the kids locked away somewhere safe, somewhere ain't nobody can get to 'em. Then get yer ass back here – I wanna find the sumbitch who locked my ship."

* * *

Niska struggled to control a sigh of irritation at Wu's anxious countenance. The doctor was far too concerned with every little detail of the project, and Niska felt relieved that there were several side projects the good doctor was not party to.

Wu wrung his hands. "You don't know what he's capable of sir – none of us do. How can you be sure of his loyalty? What _is_ he?"

Niska ran one hand over his brow, massaging his temples. Wu's constant questioning was becoming a serious thorn in his side. He smiled at the doctor in what he hoped was a reassuring expression. "Nobody you should vorry yourself vith. He iz a friend, someone we located. Nothing more."

Wu shook his head. "You know I can't believe that – not after what he did to Gyre. _Ta ma de,_ Niska, things are spiralling out of control and you still can't be sure that we can trust him."

Niska shook his head, his voice growing heated. "Ve do not need to trust him, ve need him to do as ve say. And ze desire for vengeance vill allow for much loyalty, don't you sink?"

Wu wasn't going to let it go. "Sir, at least tell me what he is."

Niska nodded, calming himself. "Very vell. Tam vas created as some kind of super hero, yes? Zis is vhat ve haff found from our research, she iz something designed to fight bad people." At Wu's hesitant nod Niska continued. "Liam's kind are vhat precipitated her creation. He iz ze thing zat goes bump in ze night, understand?"

Wu's eyes widened. He looked like he'd been hit by a sledgehammer. "They died out – that's what the records all said! That's why we haven't been able to figure out why Tam was created – those things are long gone!" His voice was growing more hysterical with every word.

Niska shook his head. "Haff you learned nothing, old friend?" Niska waved his hand in dismissal, Wu leaving the room slowly, still looking dazed.

Niska turned just as the wave screen flicked on. The other man looked like he was in a shuttle of some kind and his voice was quiet. "My cover was blown, but everything is still in place. I'll be arriving shortly. Your cargo is on its way."

Niska smiled at the screen, glee filling his eyes.

"Thank you, Angelus."


	20. Chapter 20

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Ok I know for a lot of you Liam's identity wasn't particularly shocking – I hope you're still on board (it seems rude to ask for so much suspension of disbelief, but I hope it's still enjoyable).

* * *

Jayne snarled in frustration, making Simon jump beside him. They had been searching for hours without any results. It was beyond frustrating. What's the point of having a heightened sense of smell and hearing if you couldn't ruttin' find someone? He was one of the best tracker's in the 'verse – how could he not find someone on his own ship?

Simon sighed. "Still nothing?" Jayne shook his head, not trusting himself to speak without snarling again. They entered the galley where Zoe and Mal were also looking frustrated. Book entered, having switched positions with Kaylee and Wash. The children were all on the bridge, confused but staying entertained by the pilot as Kaylee struggled to unlock their boat from its destination.

Book's voice was tense as he spoke to his crewmates. "He can't have just disappeared – he's still on this boat." A tiny voice piped up from the doorway. "Water." Jayne immediately scooped up Lily, who had obviously snuck away from her watchers. "Baby-girl, I told ya not ta be walkin' round the boat right now, ya know why."

Lily nodded but her eyes were filled with intensity. "Water, hiding places can be wet."

It was Simon whose eyes widened as he realized what Lily was saying. "My god, the water storage tank! Jayne wouldn't be able to hear or smell him if he hid there." Mal shook his head. "Ain't no way he'd be hidin' there fer hours – there ain't no air in there." Zoe's eyes grew dark. "'Cept what if that don't matter?"

Mal and Simon looked at her curiously as Book realised what she meant. "My god – the bullet, it didn't kill him. You're saying he might not be human!" Zoe nodded. "Way he sped past me an' Jayne? Somethin' tells me he don't have ta breathe if he don't want to."

Lily was smiling happily at her father, who now passed her over to Book. "Watch her." Jayne, Mal and Zoe sped out of the room towards the water storage tank on the other side of the ship. Just as they hit the cargo bay Mal suddenly slipped in a small pool of water that hadn't been there only moments before. As he looked at the other small pools littering the bay Jayne recognised the pattern.

"Footsteps." The three of them ran up the stairs in the direction of the footsteps but it was too late. The spare shuttle roared to life, disengaging and speeding off into space. Jayne roared furiously, pounding his fist into the bulkhead.

Mal and Zoe were none too pleased themselves. Zoe tried to stay calm. "Well, at least we know he's off the ship."

Before Mal could make the snarky comment that was bubbling up the intercom sounded.

"_Uh, guys? We're about an hour away from Miranda."_

Mal slammed his hand into the comm button on the wall. "Everybody to the galley, NOW!"

The entire crew was seated around the galley table. The children were all tucked on the couch under a blanket, though not one looked ready to sleep. Jack was still looking frightened, although Derrial had wrapped a comforting arm around his friend, and Marina was offering her Happy Puppy to the little boy.

Mal was standing at the head of the table, feeling the uncomfortable sensation of _déjà vu_ as he looked at the expectant faces of his entire crew. Well, almost all of them. Even the ancient bottle of whisky had been brought out, now being passed between people, a strange homage to the battle they had once fought on the very ground they were heading towards. A portal image projector was running the scene of River in the cell with Early's corpse, playing like a horrible, soundless reminder of what they were heading towards. Mal wasn't sure who had put it there, but he couldn't find the urge to turn it off.

Mal cleared his throat. "Seems we've been here before folks. Seems this ain't the first time we've been forced ta prepare fer whatever was coming. Seems this ain't the first time this planet has led us down this road. We know Niska has our girl, we know that's where we're headin'. Seems that we never know just how much trouble we're gonna be gettin' into. All those years ago this was just a crew, gettin' by, forced into something we didn't understand."

His voice grew stronger. "Only difference is that on that day we were tryin' ta help 30 million souls find some peace. Today that ain't the case. Today the stakes are a helluva lot higher. That girl ya see there, she's ours. We all know it. An' she's a Slayer, the Chosen One, something mighty special. Now we ain't seen her in two years, an' we can't know what they've done ta her."

Mal's eyes grew hard. "But we do know this. That girl is ours. An' as long as I'm alive I don't intend ta see her suffer a moment longer iffen I can help it. I wish I could give ya the option I did years ago, I wish I could say ya can stay behind. But thanks ta our guest havin' placed a nifty lil lock on my boat that ain't an option this time."

There was silence throughout the galley, and Mal looked at seven sets of glittering eyes. For once the blood red orbs that Jayne saw the world through weren't the most terrifying eyes at the table. He knew he didn't need to ask them if they were in or out. Because every single one of his crew looked like they wanted blood, and it was with grim satisfaction that Mal opened his mouth to speak again.

His speechifying was cut short by a rasp from the corner of the room. The crew all turned to see Badger, barely staying upright, leaning against a wall. Mal was briefly reminded of Inara, waking from her concussion to ask where her son was, and he closed his eyes against the pain of the memory.

Simon rushed to Badger's side along with Wash, the pilot supporting the smaller man while the doctor examined him. Badger's voice was weak and hoarse, but his eyes were filled with fury and fear. Simon eased him onto the arm of the couch, concerned at how pale he looked.

"It was 'im, Liam – he ain't a member o' my staff, he came in that day an' he…" Badger's voiced trailed off as his eyes filled with tears. "G-gary, I've known him since he was a lil one. And Kira, Michael…what he did to them…"

The crew had seen the destruction at Badger's office, and Mal cursed the fact that they hadn't wondered why one man came out of the destruction unharmed. Badger looked like he was struggling to control his breathing, to hold back the tears. Lily Cobb had moved off the couch and walked around to stand in front of Badger. She laid one tiny hand on his knee and Badger seemed to calm down a little. He smiled at the girl, raising his eyes to look for Jayne. He always asked if he could hold Lily, always made sure he had permission before he picked her up. Largely because Jayne was pretty damn intimidating even without a tiny little person to worry about.

Badger finally saw Jayne, leaning in the shadows against the far wall. He couldn't quite make out the other man's expression; the shadows were hiding his face. Something coiled in Badger's stomach; fear.

"Mind steppin' forward mate? Can't see ya face from 'ere, wouldn' mind 'oldin' the lil bit if it's alright wit' you?"

Mal looked to where Jayne was standing, and nodded once. Jayne stepped forward, the movement throwing light onto his face. Badger began to shake uncontrollably at the sight of the elongated canines, prominent brow ridges, and blood red eyes. He gasped audibly.

"T-t-that's just 'ow 'e looked! The other one, the one what did that ta my men! 'e was a monster too" Badger suddenly felt a pinch at his knee. Lily was still resting her hand there, but those big brown eyes had grown stern, and Badger couldn't help feeling like he was being told off.

He looked back up to where Jayne was standing, and only just caught the briefest flash of hurt in the bigger man's eyes as Badger stifled another fearful gasp. Badger looked back to Lily and nodded.

"You don't want me bein' mean ta ya Pa, right lil bit?" Lily nodded once, giving Badger a smile of approval when the little man scratched his neck apologetically. "Sorry bout that, bit o' a shock is all."

Jayne nodded, accepting what Badger said. Lily quickly moved over to stand next to her Pa, who immediately swept her up and held her close, breathing in the clean scent of baby powder and soap. He felt himself calm as Lily wrapped little arms around his neck. Badger's shock and horror had hurt, just a little, after so long of people being used to seeing him. Holding his daughter Jayne felt grateful that Lily took after her mother so much.

The tension in the room dissipated after Badger's apology, and the exhausted man suddenly jumped up. "There's summat I gotta tell you lot, summat important. Cobb, your brothers paid me a visit jus' before the attack on me offices. Gave me some info, said it was 'bout River, said ya needed ta know."

Badger's eyes filled with frustration. "Me files, everythin', what happened to 'em?" Wash kept his voice calm. "Your system was wiped – Liam must have erased everything. Who knows what he found?"

Badger shook his head. "No, those files weren' on the regular system, they was paper, hidden. Still I ain't got no way ta show 'em to ya." Mal shook his head, a growl of frustration colouring his words. "No you don't – the ship is locked, headin' for what we're pretty damn sure is a death trap, an' now we don't know what them boys thought was so gorram important."

Badger screwed his eyes shut. "I can try ta remember. Something 'bout prophecies, a lady walkin' a dark road, burning things without touchin' 'em…it's all kind artsy fartsy."

Book had stood as Badger spoke, his eyes growing concerned. "I read something like that once, something older than anything we've had before. It didn't say the prophecy exactly, but it did mention something strange. Something about dark roads with darker endings, something about too much power."

Badger nodded. "Yeah, sounded kinda like that. Can ya make anythin' o' it?"

Book was looking deep in thought, his eyebrows furrowing with concern. Kaylee nudged his shoulder. "Hey, what's going on?"

Book's voice was heavy with concern and frustration. "River is…something else. We knew she would come, but nothing could have prepared us for what she would go through at the hands of the Alliance. When we lost her two years ago she was the strongest Slayer to have ever emerged. Her body took those ancient magicks and turned them into something more, something intensely powerful. It isn't just her lineage – River's brain is truly an incredible phenomenon."

Book looked to Simon, who nodded in agreement, unsure of where this was going. Book continued. "When those prehistoric magicks were combined with her brain, with all of its terrifying potential, they shaped something else. Something we Watchers have never seen before. And that something has been captured and locked away for two years, tortured and brutalized."

Book felt a second of remorse when Jayne and Simon flinched, but carried on. "They have taken something that was the dark creation of the Powers That Be and damaged it – a healthy young woman with a fully intact mind would break under the stress. Somebody like River, with all the ramifications of their past actions combined with that strength, that speed, that agility? Who knows what we'll find?"

Jayne narrowed his eyes, his voice an inhuman snarl. "Ya sayin' we shouldn' go get her?" Book shook his head, trying not to react to the fury in Jayne's tone. "That's not what I'm saying at all, you know that. But those prophecies were written long before our time, and they speak of something unknown and terrible. You saw Early's body, you saw what had happened to him. How did she do it? That's what I've been asking myself ever since I saw that ghastly video – there wasn't a drop of blood on her, so how did she do it?"

Mal rubbed the bridge of his nose as Simon pulled at his ear. Nobody could answer Book's questions, and they were feeling a sense of creeping dread wash over them. Wash piped up. "What are you sayin'?"

Book sighed. "I don't know. But whoever wrote those prophecies was truly terrified by them. We have never truly discovered River's full potential, even after everything that happened she remains somewhat of a mystery. In her letter to Simon River spoke about going back to the beginning – what beginning? The beginning of Slayers or the beginning of something else?" Book's voice began to grow in intensity, his concern and fury of the last two years boiling over. "What if whoever we find on Miranda is no longer River, what if she's something dark, something we don't know? What if she doesn't recognise us?"

Book's voice was growing in anger as he spoke, hating each word that came out of his mouth but knowing he had to voice these concerns. He pointed at the image projector on the table, his hand shaking with rage. "That is what they've done to her! That is what they have created!"

On the image projector River squished Early's eyeballs between her fingers, a small smile on her face.

The room was silent as everybody took in Book's words. Jayne felt each syllable rattle through his mind, clanging on his brain. His girl was strong, fast, smarter than holy hell – what happened if she snapped? If she didn't recognise him? If she wanted to destroy them all?

As usual there was one person in the room who had her wits about her. Lily Cobb pulled back and gave her father the same stern gaze she'd given Badger. Her little voice sounded so like River when she chided males that it made Jayne's heart swell.

"Can't give up – more coppers, more kisses."

_River, heavily pregnant with Lily, holding his head to her stomach so he could listen to the heartbeat of their child._

_Battling Alliance rogues, watching River destroy the army of Reaver's as she plunged his mother's scythe into the power core on Universes' moon._

_Lily cooing happily as River twirled her around the cargo bay, humming softly, a bright smile on her face._

_Warm nights of rough passion and fierce adoration, love leaving its scars and bites and bruises, marks that were cherished for days later_

_His wife, her eyes cold and flat as she surveyed Early's body, humming under her breathe. _

Jayne turned back to the crew. "That girl is my wife, an' I want her back. I don't give a good gorram what we find at Niskatech – I want her back."

Simon nodded. "She'll be broken, I don't know if she'll ever be ok again, but I want my sister back."

Kaylee stood beside her husband. "I want my friend back."

Inara's calm voice sounded out. "And I want my _bao mei_ back."

Zoe, "I want our crew back."

Wash, "I want our girl back."

Mal, "I want my Albatross back."

Their voices grew stronger, more intense as each crewmember shouted out their defiance and anger, their determination. Book felt the breathe leave his lungs in a whoosh of relief. The tight knot of fear that had built in his stomach began to loosen as he looked at his crewmates, at his family. Suddenly he knew it didn't matter what they found, what they had to do.

"I want my Slayer back."

Badger sat back and raised an eyebrow. "Blimey you lot get right dramatic sometimes don't ya?"


	21. Chapter 21

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Shout out to **Dherea**, who was not only the first reviewer of my more recent chapters, but is also reviewer number 50, yay! Additional shout outs to the lovely **Alisosia**, splendid **lje100smith **and the wonderful **Milly616.** Thank you :)

* * *

Julian looked through the viewing glass into the subject's cell. Something wasn't right. Crymeth addicts _always_ paced, _always_ moved as if the world around them was slightly off balance and they constantly needed to adjust their footing. She had stopped pacing about an hour ago, and this was the third time he'd come past to check on her.

As an orderly he wasn't about to question the doctor, but something seemed off. She was just standing there, in the centre of the room, completely still. Except for her hands. They would occasionally come up to her arms and scratch at barely healed wounds, nail marks, deep gouges. Julian felt somewhat relieved that she was still exhibiting at least some of the appropriate symptoms. Patients often howled about insects under their skins; some of the self-inflicted injuries the girl had caused herself over the past few weeks had been impressive. Ever since they stopped attempting to touch her they'd simply dealt with those wounds by adding strong disinfectants to the water they pumped into her cell for showering.

Still, she wasn't pacing. Why wasn't she pacing? The dose had been upped only yesterday, by now she should be panting and moving around like an agitated rodent in a cage. Instead she only stood there.

Her hospital gown was as ragged as it always was, sometimes she simply ripped it off entirely, snarling about vines stinging her flesh. Later they would find her carefully putting it back on, ass if using it to protect herself from whatever horrors she perceived in the cell. Other times she would crawl and clamour at the walls, as if trying to climb up something, unable to find purchase on the heavy Tigant surface. Sometimes she would brace herself in the far corner of the room, one hand on the ceiling, snarling like a wildcat. She would alternate between running and scrambling along the meagre floor of her tiny cell, hair flying wildly, thin limbs and nearly translucent skin making her look like some kind of fragile fairy.

Of course nobody had been dumb enough to believe she was fragile, not since she destroyed Arthur's leg with a bedpost.

Julian suddenly realised she wasn't just standing there. She was watching him. Their eyes finally locked, and it occurred to Julian that nobody had looked at her eyes in a very long time. If they had someone would have mentioned that terrifying, hypnotic pull. Someone would have mentioned just how big and brown and beautiful they were.

_Come closer._

He felt a strange pulling in his brain, felt the oddest compulsion to unlock the door. Which was crazy. Dr Wu had ordered that nobody even think about unlocking Tam's door. Julian thought about it. Wu had given him the only extra set of keys to Tam's cell – he was head orderly.

_Come closer._

Surely Wu wouldn't have given him the keys if he didn't want Julian to open the door at some point. And she wasn't terrifying; she was just a girl, barely a woman, looking in desperate need of a hug. He felt his brain go warm and fuzzy. How could anybody be afraid of that pale, emaciated thing? Those eyes were pulling him in, drawing him towards her, and the key was in his hand and heading towards the magnetic strip reader when a something shot out and grabbed his wrist.

Hector glared at him. "The hell do you think you're doing?" Julian shook his head, trying to clear his mind. What had he been doing? "I don't know. I just…I don't know."

The two of them continued to stare at the girl inside the cell. Those beautiful brown eyes still beckoned, and Julian felt Hector's grip around his wrist go slack as they both stared at the girl. Suddenly a single brow arched, as if in impatience.

The eyes changed. Suddenly the lost, sweet look was gone, leaving in its place something dark and terrifying.

From down the hall the nurses saw the reinforced Tigant door that contained River Tam blow off its hinges, slamming into the wall on the other side of the hallway. It took the two orderlies with it.

Julian wasn't a religious man, but as he enjoyed the last few microseconds of his life he knew one thing with complete and total certainty.

He had just unleashed hell.

* * *

They were half an hour away from Miranda, and they knew what had to be done. Didn't mean one of them was comfortable with it, but it still had to happen. One by one the crew picked up their most precious cargo and walked into that secret room. Despite the hefty reinforcements no member of the crew felt wholly comfortable with leaving their children there, not after what Early had managed to do.

Badger, still weak, was positioned in the infirmary, guarding the hidden entrance. Jayne had loaded him up with two of the biggest hand canons the little man had ever seen, along with enough rounds to take out an army. The children had been terrified as their parents kissed them. The crew knew the stakes – they knew they would need every member to survive what was coming. So one by one Simon gave their beautiful, precious children a mild sedative, and one by one they drifted off to sleep. One by one their eyes closed, their breathing evened out, and they entered a dreamless slumber.

And one by one the crew felt their hearts breaking at the thought of what would happen if they weren't there when their children woke up.

Lily was the last to be put under, Jayne staying with her as long as he could. Simon stood to the side as Jayne set his daughter on the small cot next to Marina, kneeling in front of her. "Baby-girl, you see anythin' ya wanna tell me 'bout?"

Lily smiled the biggest, brightest smile Jayne had ever seen. And something in Jayne's mind settled itself. Because anything that made his baby-girl smile like that had to be ok. As she had a million times before Lily placed a tiny hand on either stubbled cheek. One little thumb grazed the elongated canines, her young face unafraid as always.

She spoke softly, sweetly. "Coppers, Daddy."

She had that look like she was trying to make him understand something. Jayne nodded, kissing her head and hugging her tightly before standing back to let Simon do his work. He didn't need to understand right now, he'd understand when he needed to. As Lily's eyes began to close Jayne stepped forward again, running one hand through her dark brown curls, pressing another kiss on her soft little cheek.

As he stepped out of the secret room and Simon locked it up Jayne turned to Badger, his eyes like blood red stone. His voice was dark and gravelly, the sharpened canines glinting in the harsh light of the infirmary. "In there is my baby-girl. You die before somethin' happens ta her, _dong ma_?" Badger nodded, not really needing the reminder but admitting that having it delivered by something as terrifying as whatever monster Jayne Cobb was really added to the intimidation.

Jayne walked out of the infirmary, Simon following him out. He turned to his brother in law, who stared at him evenly. Neither said a word. They both knew what was at stake, both knew what could happen, both knew what they had to lose. Simon extended a hand out to Jayne, who took it without hesitation. Each man stepped forward, quickly embracing the other before standing back.

No time for sentimentality.

Once Badger was secure Kaylee and Wash set about introducing the most elaborate system of booby traps that Jayne had ever seen. Book would occasionally step in, adding something or adjusting things, and Mal felt a flash of pity for whatever soul might wander onto their boat uninvited.

PAGE BREAK

"Sir, Serenity has just breached atmo. Ten minutes to landing." Niska grinned, thrilled and exhilarated. Finally things were going smoothly, perfectly.

No sooner than the thought entered his mind the emergency alarm sirens started blaring.

* * *

Marcus took point as they moved through the abandoned office building. They had come to the third floor, and were about to enter the bathroom. Kale stopped and sniffed the air before smiling grimly. They moved in, relieved beyond belief to see Lucius propped up against the far wall.

Thomas had the flask in his hand immediately, moving to his brother's side. "Quickly, drink up, yer gonna need yer strength."

The alarms blaring in the distance added weight to Thomas' words. Lucius gratefully took the flask, gulping at the contents. He hadn't had blood in three days, and even before that it had been rare, pilfered from the medical supplies whenever possible. Energy slowly filled his veins as he consumed his first meal in so long.

He stood, allowing Thomas to support him until he felt strong enough to stand on his own. He looked at his brothers. "Those alarms are for a high alert emergency. Code Red, only used on the most dangerous occasions."

Kale and Lucas smirked as Marcus nodded gravely, a slow, humourless smile crossing his face.

"Sounds like our kinda fun."

* * *

Two by two the couples of Serenity found private areas to say what they wanted to say. Simon and Kaylee stood in the engine room, the place of their first moment of physical consummation. Kaylee smiled at Simon sadly. "I love you." Simon nodded. "I know. My whole life, I've never loved anything the way I've loved you."

Kaylee leaned forward to place a sweet kiss on his lips.

Inara and Mal sat on the catwalk, each thinking about the day they had shared a bottle of Kaylee's engine wine whilst watching a herd of cattle. An unobservant voyeur would think the couple had nothing to say to one another, staring straight ahead with flat eyes.

The hands clasped between them, knuckles white with tension, said otherwise.

The oldest couple on the boat stood on the bridge. Wash thought about the day he'd first met Zoe on this bridge. Zoe thought about the day she had almost lost her whole world. Neither said a word. There was no choice – they would get through. They had to.

Book found Jayne sitting on a crate in the cargo bay. His hands were wrapped around a faded capture. Kaylee had taken it long ago, at Christmastime. Jayne had drunk a fair amount of Lucius' moonshine, and had swooped up his dainty wife and their little girl, twirling them round and bellowing Christmas songs offkey. River's face was lit up as she was twirled, long hair feathering out behind her, the baby girl held safely against her chest.

Jayne's face was normal.

Book pulled out another capture as he sat next to Jayne. This one was from a training session only weeks before the distress call from Kinderstood that had ruined their lives. River was in her tight black shorts and tank top, bare foot and prepared. Book swung at her and she tucked, snatching up the bo staff and executing a neat backwards flip. In the corner Jayne was sprawled against a far wall, looking sweaty and tired after his own session with River, once again looking normal, human. He was now watching his wife with interest, their daughter clutched on his shoulders as she giggled at her mama.

Neither man said a word as they shared in their captures.

Their comm system sounded a thirty second docking sequence. By fifteen the crew were gathered in the cargo bay, armed to the teeth. Jayne stood to the back, relishing the tear of flesh as his wings ripped out of his skin, dark and membranous, beating gently. Every crew member was armed to the teeth, prepared for whatever happened when the doors to their ship were opened.

The loud clank of the ship docking was coupled with the clang of the door locks being released. The crew took their battle stances, and waited.


	22. Chapter 22

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

* * *

Niska clenched his teeth as his guard struggled to unlock the block that had been placed on their security cameras. He was still in his office, the alarms piercing his eardrums, when Wu hurried into the room. "Sir there's something happening on the med floor – we can't access it at all, and most of my personnel have disappeared. They're on that floor!"

Niska hissed at Wu. "You sink I do not know zat? Ze alarms may haff given me a clue, don't you sink? Just shut up." Wu glared. "I'm sick of this – I will not be ignored any longer. This has gone too far and now it's costing out people their lives! You wouldn't have any of this without me; you need me, so take my advice and finish this now!"

Niska spun suddenly, his eyes growing calm and flat. They reminded Wu of the sharks from earth-that-was, densely black and completely soulless. Niska's voice was very calm, almost smug. "Iz zat what you sink?"

Wu nodded hesitantly, which made Niska smile wider. He reached for a folder on his desk and handed it to Wu. "Read zis and ve shall take a walk."

Wu took the file as Niska guided him out of the office, down a hallway and through a secure door. Wu had never entered this part of the building, knowing it was only connected to aircraft hangers. However as they continued down the hall Wu began to see a succession of laboratories. They were empty at the moment but showed no signs of disuse. Wu looked to Niska, who only stared straight ahead, gesturing once at the file Wu held. The doctor opened it obediently, quickly skimming the contents.

He felt his blood freeze.

**Operation Lotus**

**Tam experiment failing to produce appropriate results when recreation is attempted.**

**New avenues explored – DNA harvested from G-Paxilon Hydrochlorate survivors, aka Reavers.**

**Said DNA combined with V-Virus, sample 1.**

**Initial experiments producing promising results, further experimentation recommended.**

**Human test subjects confirmed.**

There was a page torn out of the file. Wu struggled to breathe as he read the words on the chart in front of him. His voice was a breathy whisper. "T-t-the V-Virus? You used the V-Virus?"

Niska noticed the change in breathing and smiled. "Vonderful, isn't it? Zey are not as useful as Tam's will be, but zey are effective nonetheless. Our friend Angelus was kind enough to contribute the V-Virus. Getting hold of Miranda survivors, or Reavers as zey are now known, vas harder."

They walked past a lab and Niska paused in front of it. Wu looked away from the decimated corpse on the table, the tell-tale self-mutilation a fair indicator of what it had once been.

Niska urged Wu forward, towards the open aircraft hanger at the end of the hallway. Niska's voice was eager. "You vill see our efforts. Zey are magnificent."

Wu looked down into the hanger below them and the folder slipped to the floor.

And then he did the only sensible thing he'd ever done.

He ran.

* * *

Alarms wailed in their ears, bright red lights flashing warnings everywhere. And…nothing. There was nothing, and nobody, waiting for them. Mal stepped forward cautiously, gesturing Jayne forward. He sniffed the air and shook his head. Nobody hiding, nobody nearby.

He looked at Mal and shrugged, the movement jostling his wings a little. He snapped them in tight to his back. The crew carefully followed as Jayne took point, Mal and Zoe up front with him, Book and Wash bringing up the rear. They stepped onto the blindingly white landing bay, moving through the nearest corridor. There were no signs of life, although the alarms were setting everybody's teeth on edge.

The winding maze of corridors never seemed to end. Heavy security doors labelled "Keep Out" and various offices were scattered throughout. And everything was that same blinding white. Jayne suddenly stopped, inhaling deeply. He grinned to himself, turning down the nearest corridor quickly, the crew following. As they rounded the corner they almost ran into the Cobb boys, who were waiting for them, armed to the teeth.

As Jayne exchanged quick embraces with his brothers Mal began to speak. "We ain't found a soul here – what's goin' on?"

Marcus shrugged. "Beats us, we thought we were steppin' inta the fight o' our lives. Stead this place is dead as a graveyard. 'Ceptin' the gorram noise."

Jayne was getting a strange feeling in his stomach. It was slowly spreading through his chest, his limbs, his veins. His heart was beginning to pound in a familiar tattoo, heating to boiling point, sharpening everything in his line of vision to a razor point. He hadn't felt the rush of that particular tattoo in over two years, but he knew what it meant.

He growled. "We're close." Lucas nodded. "We'll keep lookin' fer the security rooms, we wanna get rid o' any threats. You try ta find a way ta the med floor – we can't get up there. Whatever these alarms are tellin' us it's on that floor."

Lucius stepped towards his younger brother, looking nervous. "I'm sorry we didn't tell ya Jayne – thought we had a plan, guess it didn't work none." Jayne shook his head roughly. "I get it, I do. Let's jus' get this finished. I want my girl back."

It was decided that Jayne would go with his brothers – if they could find the security rooms, they could try to unlock the med floor. More importantly they could find Niska and finally bring this operation down. And Mal wasn't sure the crew would be able to deal with the rage he saw boiling in Jayne's eyes as well as Jayne's brothers would.

As Serenity's crew left the Cobb boys Jayne pulled Simon aside. "We get her out – don't matter what she is, what any o' y'all think she is. She dies, I'll tear this place apart, _dong ma_?"

Simon didn't say anything for a moment before he finally smiled. "You're an odd brother-in-law." Jayne grinned, the look coming off as ferocious rather than playful, and shoved Simon on his way, the doctor stumbling a little but grinning as well.

* * *

"Sir, Serenity has docked." Niska snarled at the guard in the corner. "VHAT IS HAPPENING ON MY MED FLOOR?" The guard cowered, making Niska curl his lip in disgust at the weak man.

They'd been struggling to break through the blocks on the security feed for far too long. Finally the screen flickered to life, revealing the entire camera system on the med floor.

The guard went deathly white. Niska couldn't breathe for a moment. Finally he turned to the man next to him, barely able to get his vocal cords working as the air in his chest went tight.

"Bodyguards and a transport – now."

* * *

Mal felt uncomfortable without Jayne's looming presence beside him. He wondered when he'd grown to appreciate the monster as much as the man. As he looked around at the nervous faces of his crew he knew he wasn't the only one who felt bereft without their demonic friend beside them.

Finally they reached a file room. Hoping to locate some form of blueprint, since the ones Lucius had provided were now locked on Serenity's cortex, they entered. The room had the same overly sterile feeling that the rest of the building had. Rows and rows of file cabinets lined the walls, and Inara wondered why Niska would keep such things in hardcopy rather than electronically.

Zoe, seeming to read Inara's mind, leaned forward. "Cortex systems can be hacked." Inara nodded in understanding as Simon located a filing cabinet marked 'T'. He swung it open and quickly found what he was looking for.

Tam, River.

There were five bulky folders in the cabinet, and he handed them over to Book, the two of them quickly rifling through. Mal watched as Simon's face began to lose all colour. He watched as Book's skin was bleached of its usual warmth, turning a papery grey. He watched as Simon's hands began to shake in rage and anguish, watched as Book's eyes grew dark and horrified.

**ECT.**

**Endurance Stress Tests.**

**Temperature sensitivity tests.**

**Threshold tests.**

**Combat tests.**

**Sedation.**

**Crymeth.**

Finally Simon spoke. "F-f-floor 6. The med bay is on floor 6."

Mal waited for Simon to say something, waited for Book to say what they had been reading. Neither man said a word as they stood, placing the folders in the pack that Book carried. When they turned back to the rest of the crew their eyes were flat and dark.

Book's voice came out a harsh whisper. "You don't want to know."

Mal nodded once, allowing them space. The filed out and went to find the floor they needed. Mal had no idea that as they walked both Book and Simon were thinking the same thing.

_My god, what will we find?_


	23. Chapter 23

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Just an FYI – I loved Angel on Buffy, I thought he was a great character, and Angelus was just plain fun. Please don't take any of this as bashing – I just think he's an awesome bad guy.

* * *

Wash hissed in frustration when they came to the med floor. The stairs had been their only option – the elevators weren't functioning for some reason. Wash had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the ruttin' noisy alarm that was continuously proclaiming a Code Red Lockdown. They stood in front of a heavily locked door, and Zoe wished they hadn't let Jayne go with his brothers. It might have seemed like a good idea, especially considering the anger inside Jayne at the moment, and it was a measure of Jayne's trust in his crew that he would allow them to seek out River while he disposed of any threats.

Still, a solid wall of demonic muscle would be mighty helpful right now.

BANG

The explosion made all their ears ring as it shook the foundations of the building. It had sounded like a crack of lightning, immediately silencing the blaring alarms as they system was destroyed in the blast. The foundations of the building began to strain, small pieces of debris dropping from the ceiling. No aftershocks were felt, but the location of the explosion must have been the med floor, because the door now hung from its hinges, allowing the crew to make their way onto the med bay.

The walls had once been the same, sterile white as the rest of the building. A large, well-proportioned hallway with a central nurse's station. Several labs on one side of the hall, several cells on the other. The last cell wasn't locked; the heavy door was visible on the other side of the room, as if it had been thrown across the hallway.

The entire level was destroyed. The crew knew now why they hadn't passed any personnel, security staff, medical orderlies, why they hadn't encountered anybody. It was because every person in the building seemed to be on this floor.

And every single one of them was dead.

Some bodies looked as if they'd been crushed, flung against the walls. Security guards lay with their pistols in their mouths, their brains splattered on the walls behind them. Skulls had been torn apart, bodies were almost completely obliterated in the wake of whatever had happened here.

The walls of the hallway were entirely washed in red.

* * *

Jayne snarled in frustration as they exited another useless security room. The huge explosion they'd heard had rocked them, Jayne's mind instantly calling out to wherever River was being held. As the walls shook a piece of roof dropped to the floor. He snapped his wings in closer to his back, effectively hiding them from sight and ensuring they wouldn't get caught on anything they passed through. He didn't retract them fully though – he didn't want to risk not having them available quickly. They had to locate Niska to bring this operation down for good. Lucas took point as they ran down the hallway to the next guard station, stopping suddenly when he passed a door emblazoned with a bronze plaque.

_Adelei Niska_

Lucas grinned at the others and pushed open the door. The room was empty but the back wall was covered in a sophisticated cortex system, the many screens reflecting what was going on at each level. Kale and Thomas rushed to the security system while Lucius and Marcus examined the desk drawers for anything important. Kale quickly located Niska's launch shuttle, putting a lock on the grid seconds before take-off. Jayne and Lucas moved towards the monitors.

The one labelled sixth floor caught their attention.

Jayne's eyes grew wide as he surveyed the destruction in that room. He could see his crewmates gingerly picking their way through the carnage, stopping to look into a room where the door had been blown off its hinges.

Lucas hissed at Kale. "Can ya rewind the footage? I wanna know what happened here."

Before Kale could reply a voice sounded in the doorway. "Well well, alone at last." The six Cobb boys turned simultaneously, weapons pointed at the man in the doorway. The stranger smirked at them, his brown eyes hard and cruel.

Thomas studied the man. "I've seen ya somewhere – some book that Ma used ta have." The man's smirk turned into an ugly sneer. "Don't talk to me about your mother boy – I hope she's rotting in hell somewhere."

One by one the Cobb boys stepped forward, very slowly, very carefully. They formed a straight line across the room, a wall of muscle. Jayne raised an eyebrow at the man, a growl echoing in his throat. The air in the room suddenly felt very dangerous. "Ya knew our Ma?" At the same time Marcus demanded, "Who are you?"

The man chuckled darkly. "I knew her once. Pretty thing, shame about her taste in men. Course, after I had her anything else was going to look pretty crappy by comparison." He looked expectantly at the boys, none of whom moved. Their stillness was disconcerting.

He shrugged. "I'm Angelus. Old friend of your Dad's." He waited for some kind of response. Their lack of reaction was annoying him. He'd been busy ever since he touched down an hour ago, laying out his plan carefully. They wouldn't know what hit them. This was supposed to be fun, but they all just stood there as if he was talking to stone. He smiled to himself. Not matter, fear was a better appetizer anyway.

He looked at Jayne, whose face gave a clear indication of his demonic heritage. "Seems you're the only one who got the genes though. Pity, they were weak but at least it would have made this more fun."

He allowed his demon to take over, his face transforming, eyes turning golden and brow ridges protruding, his canines elongated. He growled in his throat.

Nothing.

Not a single reaction from any of the Cobb boys.

He sneered. "After I finish you boys I'm going to tear apart those idiots you call crew! Well, not the women. That black haired thing looks like she'd be good for a ride or two. And I smelled something mighty tasty on board – young meat is always sweeter."

Angelus was furious. Nothing! He tried one last time. "I wonder how loud she'll scream when she sees what I do to you? And what I'll do to her…"

A slow, lazy grin began to spread across Jayne's face. It seemed to move from Jayne down the line of boys. Marcus, then Lucas, Kale, then Thomas, and finally Lucius. All were wearing that slow, toothy, lazy grin that made Angelus' blood boil. Spike's grin.

Lucas turned to Jayne, his voice light and conversational. "Now?" Jayne nodded, "Now."

One by one their faces began to change. The eyes went blood red, brow ridges protruded, the canines elongated. And then the wings came out. Each man moved slightly to allow for more room, the massive office allowing enough space to fully expand the dark, membranous wings of each Cobb boy.

Angelus suddenly didn't feel so confident. His eyes grew wide at the sight of Spike's bastard get, of what exactly happened when a Slayer and a demon mated. If he had needed to breathe he would have been in trouble.

Well…more trouble.

Marcus shifted his feet, glancing once at Jayne. "What do ya think – head start?" Jayne surveyed Angelus calmly. "Yeah, thirty seconds."

Angelus didn't need to be warned twice. He bolted from the doorway, disappearing down the hall. Jayne smirked. "On second thought, fuck the head start."

The six men bolted from the office, taking advantage of the wide hallway to sprint. Angelus had run through to an empty aircraft hanger, heading for the spare shuttle from Serenity that he'd stashed there.

He never made it. He turned as he heard a whooshing noise. He looked up to see the flying demons straight out of children's nightmares surrounding him, not one of them saying a word. But each of their faces had the kind of terrifying, demonic glee that had made their father the fighter that he was. Angelus didn't stand a chance.

They dove simultaneously, descending on Angelus, and for a second he wondered if there was any possible way he could survive this.

He flung out a fist, only to have it caught. He tried using the momentum to flip himself. He stared into Jayne's face, the vicious grin still gracing the monstrous visage.

His voice was sharp. "You're a relic - one'a them things ain't got no place in this world, this time. An' yer a shit one at that."

Angelus forced a smirk. "You think I came alone boy? You think I didn't bring anything back with me?" Jayne chuckled. He didn't bother to give a signal, but Angelus knew what was coming.

He struggled to beg, struggled to think of something to say.

He didn't have time.

They tore him to pieces.

His screams of agony echoed through the ship for only a moment before they suddenly stopped. It was hard to scream with no throat.

Borrowed blood splattered over them, painting them in bright red liquid. When they were finished Marcus quickly turned to Jayne. "I saw another hanger when we came past this one – wanna check it out? Might be where Niska's leavin' from."

Jayne nodded and the six of them quickly took flight, their blood humming from the fight. Well, not really a fight. More of a frenzy.

If they were about to get Niska maybe they could wrap this up and get out of here before the building fell down around them. Jayne thought about the crew, hoping they'd found his girl. He was close, so close his blood was echoing in his eardrums, demanding his wife, his girl, his mate. Lucas whipped the comm unit from Thomas' belt. "Reynolds, get down to Level 4, quadrant 2. NOW."

They headed back through the hallway down another corridor, quickly breaking through the security door. Finally they ran past a series of labs. Something wasn't right.

When they came to the end of the hallway it was a large viewing platform down into the hanger below them.

Every single Cobb was left speechless.

The six Cobb boys stared down into the hanger. One of the creatures snarled, its blood red eyes flashing. It had the same elongated teeth as the Cobb's had; only the brow ridges were normal. It was well over six feet tall, broad shouldered and growling viciously. It had the long, matted hair and signs of self-mutilation that they had seen on Reaver's, but the flashing red eyes held intelligence rather than the mindless violence of the Miranda survivors.

Jayne didn't look away as he spoke quickly, harshly. "Tell 'em not ta come, tell 'em ta get out of here." Lucas, still holding the comm unit, flicked it on immediately. They needed to tell Reynolds not to come here, needed to make sure the crew got out safely, away from the horror they saw below. Static blared out, the comm unit had died.

The creature sniffed the air, turning its head upwards in the direction of the Cobb boys. For the first time in years Jayne felt true fear, something dark and primal. He thought that they could probably take on a few of the creatures, could definitely win a fight one on one.

But down there in that hanger there were over forty thousand of them.

And every one had just turned their eyes in the Cobb's direction.


	24. Chapter 24

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Howdy kids, how're we all travelling? I must admit to using echoes of Anne Bishop's brilliant Black Jewels Trilogy here in reference to River. Give them a go – they're a wonderful read.

* * *

The crew sprinted down the hallway towards where the Cobb boys stood on a catwalk platform above a hanger. Pieces of debris were dropping from the roof behind them. Simon snatched Kaylee out of the way of a falling piece of wall whilst Book winced as a nearby window broke, sending shards of glass into his arm. What looked like laboratories were caving in on themselves, leaving the floor littered with glass and rubble.

Up ahead Jayne and Kale were making some kind of hand gestures, their monstrous faces looking fearful. Mal struggled to hear what they were saying over the sounds of the crumbling building, only knowing that they had to get out of the hallway before they were killed by the falling debris. As the crew bolted towards the Cobbs Mal stopped in the doorway, pulling the rest of his people through to the catwalk. He managed to grab Zoe and haul her out of the way of the final, enormous piece of ceiling that had fallen, the entire hallway now blocked and impenetrable.

Mal rushed up to Kale, who was looking like his world had just ended. "The sam hell is goin' on?" Kale's eyes were dark with defeat and fear. He didn't say a word as he pointed to the hanger below them. It was only then that Mal finally saw it. The huge hanger, designed for multiple ships to be docked simultaneously, was full of an army.

An army of gorram monsters.

Mal couldn't speak. He turned to Zoe, who looked equally horrified at what they saw below them. Every person standing on the catwalk briefly flashed back to a time many years ago, when they had stood on Mr Universes' moon, looking down into a swirling mass of Reavers. The scene was eerily reminiscent of that time, with one exception.

Every single pair of those blood red, horrifying eyes was filled with the same sharp intelligence.

Simon scooped up a fallen file from the floor. His eyes went wide as he read the contents. He looked over to Mal. "Captain – those aren't just Reavers. They're a hybrid, a mix of Reaver DNA and the V-Virus." Mal narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is the V-Virus."

Book, who looked paler than Mal had ever seen him, didn't take his eyes off the horror below them as he spoke. "Vampires. Niska took the virus that creates vampires, mixed it with Reaver DNA, and created…that. All the evil that is Reaver's combined with near immortality, and intelligence."

The weight of Book's words settled over Mal like nothing he'd ever felt before. The creatures below them were now snarling taunts and insults. They were fast, they were vicious, they were violent, they were intelligent.

And Niska had made them invincible.

Jayne looked over his crew. "Where is she?" Nobody spoke for a moment, still examining the horror they saw below them. Jayne's voice grew sharper, more desperate. "WHERE IS SHE?"

Before anyone could reply Zoe stepped forward. "We don't know, and we won't find her if we're eaten by those things. How many of those creatures do you think you can take?" Jayne flicked his eyes over his own weapons, to his brothers. Marcus looked at him with sorrowful eyes, the blood red orbs leaving no doubt as to what he was thinking. Jayne looked back to Zoe.

He didn't need to say it. They were all thinking it anyway. There was no way they were getting out of this alive. Jayne felt a pain in his chest like nothing he'd ever experienced. If this was how he was going out, without seeing her ever again, without holding her against him, then so be it.

Didn't mean he had to like it.

His cry began in his throat, slowly building, until the howl of agony echoed around the huge hanger. The beasts below were now beginning to find purchase on the walls, slowly climbing, beginning to surround the crew from all sides.

A flash along the other side of the catwalk drew their attention as a slim, pale figure dropped down, balancing on the railing with a familiarity so sharp that it stung. The group on the catwalk took in the sight before them. River's long hair was matted, shaved in small patches along the sides, the wounds of tubing standing out stark and red against her pale skin. The hospital gown did little to hide the emaciated body underneath, dark bruises along her ribs, deep gouges up and down her arms.

All the muscle she had built up with Book's training had disappeared, burned up in the last two years of agony. Each movement looked like it should cause her frail body pain, but her face was strangely blank. The skin was stretched taut over her cheekbones, her huge brown eyes rimmed by dark circles. The body looked useless, as if a strong gust of wind would send it flying.

But those eyes.

Those eyes held within them the dark, swirling, terrifying truth of what she was. She stood there, uncaring of her near nudity, her fragile body strung taut with tension. Simon's breath came out in a whisper. "Back to the beginning." Book recognised it from the letter River had written them such a long time ago. This was it, this was what happened when a creature such as a Slayer was pushed beyond its limits, this was what happened when you tried to control and destroy something dark and beautiful.

All the way back, back to the beginning, reduced to its natural state of being.

She turned those eyes on the crew. Inara felt a sob rise up in her throat at the feral, inhuman look in those eyes. Their beautiful, brilliant girl was nowhere to be seen. There was something horrific about the peaceful, calm stillness, something dark and dangerous waiting to be unleashed. Somehow that thin, pale, damaged girl looked more terrifying than all the creatures below them.

Jayne laid eyes on his wife for the first time in two years, not counting the footage they'd been sent. She looked ill, exhausted, haggard. The delicate, lean muscles he had longed to touch were gone. The long, curling waterfall of chocolate brown hair was a tangled mess interspersed with shaved patches over her ears. He could count her ribs, make out the edges of her hipbones. She was shivering, a light sheen of sweat covering her body, and Jayne knew instinctively it wasn't due to being cold. He could see the veins in her near translucent skin, twining alongside deep gouges that her long, ragged nails had created.

She had never looked more beautiful to him than in that moment.

He took a step forward only to find himself immediately held back by three of his brothers, his Captain and Book.

Book's voice was a low, carefully calm whisper. "Don't…don't do anything to alarm her." Jayne wanted to argue, wanted to fight and run to her, wanted to hold her and answer the violent tattoo that was beating in his heart, the feverish desire he felt in his bloodstream.

But those eyes.

Those eyes turned on him and held no recognition. Jayne felt his heart sink as they skimmed over the crew, that dangerous stillness sending shivers through his body. Whatever dark creature was looking through those eyes was liable to snap and erupt at any moment. And Jayne knew, deep within himself, that if that happened they would all be destroyed.

Something ghastly passed across her face. It might have been a smile.

She turned her head straight forward, down to the army of monsters below. From where she stood on the railing Jayne was certain he saw a smile cross her face once before, before she took a step forward.

"No!"

Too late. She had landed on the floor of the hanger, the drop impacting on her frail bones. She carefully picked herself up. The vicious mob looked at the intruder, ghastly smiles revealing rows of sharp teeth. As if on cue they all began to bolt towards the girl, snarling and cackling with glee at the sight of their prey.

Jayne struggled against his brother's grip. He had to get to her, had to help her, had to stop her. It was to no avail. He couldn't wrench himself from their protective arms, and he fell to his knees as he watched an army of the most horrifying creatures the human mind had ever created advance on his wife.

From their vantage point they could see River's face. Though they waited for her to transform into the spinning, whirling, twirling dervish of destructive energy they knew and loved, the moment never came. Those ancient brown eyes were peaceful, calm as the army came close.

And the crew, frozen by their horror and shock, waited to watch her die, knowing there was nothing they could do about it.

Step by agonising step River began to walk forward, towards certain death, towards her doom. Jayne felt his heart break as he howled out his agony, feeling hot tears stream down his brother's faces, saw the anguished expressions on his crewmates. The feral sound of his anguish blended strangely with the snarls and gleeful cackles of the swirling mass of monsters, a dreadful, wild song painting a terrible backdrop to the horror beneath them.

_Time now. Prickling tickling growing stronger. The mind clearing, revealing its true purpose, its complete and total intent. That piercing light ripping through the chains and webs of madness and addiction, allowing the prehistoric, primal intent of the Watchers who had created this being to be released._

_Accelerated neurons fired, waking parts of the human mind never before explored, missing with and enhanced by magicks far older than mankind. The complete and total extent of the Slayer._

_And shee will come to them, fyre and brymstone, deadly in her furie. The mynd will open new doors for the Slayer, reveeling grayter powr than ever befor. And shee will destroy them without wepons, without hands, without touch. And they will burn._

_Bewar the Slayer, for she is not what she seems._

_Unleashed._

Something changed.

Jayne felt the air around them begin to crackle, sizzle, as if water had been dropped in a hot pan. He felt a pulling through the air, tugging every last bit of energy from the hanger, slowly sending it spiralling downwards.

He saw River smile. Suddenly her advancing attackers stopped, clutching their heads as the humming, pulling energy of the air grew stronger and stronger. They struggled to continue, their Reaver DNA allowing them to ignore the pain, crashing over River like a wave.

Just as she disappeared from sight the whole world exploded. Something violent and horrifying erupted in the cavernous hanger below them, ripples of power singing along the air.

A wild, rushing, howling was echoing throughout the chamber, strangely melodic in its fury and rage.

_**A voice crying out in the darkness, demanding retribution.**_

The blast sent the crew flying to the ground, clinging to the railings and each other to prevent themselves from falling off the platform. Bodies popped, crackled, sizzled, turning to nothing more than bags of skin, exploded skulls, fragments of brain and bone. Some were burned to ash, others popped like overheated corn, spraying the area with carnage.

They weren't killed. They were obliterated.

Just as suddenly as it had started the electricity crackling through the air vanished.

It had taken her thirty seconds to destroy the nightmarish army.

The crew struggled to their feet. Where once there had stood a vicious, violent, snarling army there was now only an ocean of gore. A river of blood.

And there, standing in the centre of the floor, her ragged white hospital gown soaking up the river of blood that washed over her feet, looking small and fragile in the cavernous hanger now decorated with mayhem, stood River.


	25. Chapter 25

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Yup kids, this story is slowly drawing to a close, but there's still some bad people who deserve some serious ass kickings. My world continues to be rocked by your wonderful reviews – thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think, makes a gal feel all cozy inside.

Also, just FYI, next chapter has smut :)

* * *

Time seemed to stop. The silence around them was deafening, the muteness that followed the destruction of an army in mere seconds. The stillness surrounded them like a thick blanket, hiding a sense of swirling danger, as if any movement would shatter the illusion of calm and unleash hell once more.

Jayne couldn't breathe. He'd just seen his wife, the woman he had pledged his life to, the woman who was the mother of his child, the woman he had been to hell and back for, reduce a mass of monsters to a bloodied, gore splattered river in a matter of seconds. He should be terrified that they were now standing in the hanger with something far more dangerous than the hybrid beasts that Niska had created, should have run as far as he could as fast as he could.

Except the fear never came. The horror never settled in. His mind went blank, and left in its wake a fierce, violent, hot desire unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. He managed to move his head. His crewmates were also staring down at the carnage below with wide eyes, cautious expressions.

But instead of fear or disgust he saw only a chilling approval.

He grinned. He knew there was a reason he loved this crew.

He looked back down to his wife in the hanger below. She was swaying on her feet a little, and her voice shattered through the stillness surrounding them. She bent down very slowly, placing her hands in the filthy river of gore she had created. As she stood her eyes went wide, her hands gloved in red from the liquid she'd touched.

There was a strange rushing sensation in the air, as if the atmosphere itself was crying out in joy at the destruction below, and Jayne watched her eyes roll back into her head. He jumped just as she fell, just as the building began once more to shake and tremor around them. He swooped her up, splashing through the blood to pull her into his arms, turning back to the crew as the catwalk began to shake. She was light as a feather in his arms, limp and unconscious.

His voice was booming through the hanger. "RUN!" His brothers immediately grabbed the closest members of the crew and leapt, flying towards the hanger opening, Jayne hot on their heels. He clutched his wife's skeletal, blood drenched form to his chest as he flew, desperately trying not to remember the last time he'd done this. It had been a week before his mother had died, giving her life so that River could survive. There was no other Slayer to pass on the life force now, and he pushed the thought out of his mind before it could destroy him.

He allowed himself a moment of weakness, kissing her lips and clutching her fragile body to his chest. It didn't matter – he had her back. That was enough. It had to be.

He flew into the cargo bay just as Wash pulled them into the air, narrowly avoiding the docking area that crumbled around them. They broke through, pushing hard towards the atmosphere, and a movement caught Marcus' eye.

The Cobb boys ship was zipping off into the sky, and Kale cursed under his breath. "Every time we help you people we wind up losing a ship." Mal chuckled a little hysterically. Niska had somehow managed to get to the Cobb's ship. He was still out there, somewhere.

They turned as Jayne made a strangled noise and was flung across the cargo bay. River was wide awake, her wild eyes flashing, a feral snarl sounding through her throat. She had started to pace like a caged animal, watching their movements, sniffing the air and scratching at her arms. Her husband struggled to get up after hitting to wall hard, a large dent left in the metal of the bulkhead.

Simon exhaled. "Crymeth – they've been dosing her with Crymeth. Somehow she managed to fight it but now…the shivering, the scratching, the sweat – that's withdrawal." Book squared his shoulders and looked at the girl he had once trained as a Slayer.

Something dark and horrifying stared back from those brown eyes. When she spoke it wasn't River's voice. It was like there were many people speaking at once, the metallic echo of her tone sounding throughout the ship.

"_**Release her."**_

Book fought the immediate urge to bend to the will of that voice. Jayne was helped up by Lucas and Thomas, watching his wife with wary eyes the same colour as the blood drenching her ragged gown.

Jayne kept his voice very calm. "No, baby-girl. Yer home now, yer safe. River, don't ya recognise me?" Those dark eyes turned in his direction and he struggled to control his breathing. She stilled for a moment before resuming her pacing, snarling and growling.

"_**There is no River. There is only the Slayer."**_

He shook his head vehemently. "No, no that ain't true. Yer still her, yer still our girl, my wife. Yer there an' I know it. Please, baby-girl-"

"_**SILENCE!"**_

When she snarled everyone froze to the spot. Book noticed she wasn't using whatever newfound mental power she had discovered on them, and wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. That snarling, pacing, violent creature was unrecognisable as the healthy young wife and mother, the beautiful Slayer they had once known.

He felt his eyes fill with tears. They had her back but at what cost? Would they be forced to try and cage her? There was no way he could do that, no way any one of them could, not after the way she'd suffered. But this? This foreign being was something else, something he had never thought he would encounter.

A pure Slayer – the pinnacle of mystical evolution was pacing in their cargo bay, and she looked ready to destroy them all. Nobody wanted to approach her, not when her emaciated body was still humming from the power she had unleashed, not with the drug addling her brutalized mind.

"_**Liars, you cage her, use her. Just like them! RELEASE HER!"**_

"Mama!"

Mal's blood ran cold at the sound of the sweet, happy voice that echoed throughout the cargo bay. Badger, wounded and panting, bolted after Lily as she ran down the steps, weaving easily past the arms that tried to grab her and stop her to no avail.

Mal went for his gun, ready to test his reflexes against a Slayer to save Lily's life, but found Lucas blocking his hand. The other man's eyes were wide. "To lose faith is to condemn the 'verse to Hades. She is not what she seems." He sounded like he was reciting something, and Book's eyes narrowed as the little girl ran towards the feral creature that had been her mother.

Jayne struggled to be released, tried to make his voice work, but his brothers held him too tightly, and he watched his little girl run to her doom.

He waited to watch his daughter die.

The blow never came.

River had stopped pacing, had stopped moving altogether. The little girl flung herself at her mother. Lily was a small child, but the thin woman could barely hold herself up, and the impact sent them both crashing to the ground. The little girl laughed as she kissed her mother's cheek, and suddenly River's arms went up, wrapping around her.

The ancient brown eyes suddenly cleared, revealing a woman who had been pushed so far past pain that she was barely able to speak. They filled with tears, the water running down her cheek in rivulets, wetting her daughters face as she sat up, clutching her baby in her arms. The crying started, a tiny whimper, rising up into heart wrenching, agonising sobs that wracked her body. She struggled to breathe as she poured out all the pain, the anguish, the torment, the loneliness, the loss she had felt over the last two years.

Lily didn't object, didn't move, simply hugged her mother's waist and allowed her to bury her tear stained face in her hair. The crew watched as River screamed out the agony she had held inside for so long. Kaylee clung to Simon, both their faces wet with tears. The Cobbs banded around their broken brother, Mal and Inara unable to speak, Zoe and Wash sharing their silent agony. Book slumped against the stairwell with his head in his hands. Badger couldn't control his tears as he watched a mother finally reunite with her child.

Jayne sank to his knees at the sound. His brothers came with him, wrapping their arms around him tightly for comfort as he struggled not to run to River and beg forgiveness for taking so long to find her.

It seemed to go on forever, the cargo bay echoing with the wild agony. Suddenly the noise stopped. He felt a feather light touch on his shoulder.

There she stood, her thin hospital gown stained with dark blood, their daughter wrapped tightly in arms that looked thin enough to break, balanced on her hip, her hair damp with perspiration and gore.

And her eyes.

They were River's eyes. Eyes still filled with tears. Eyes filled with sorrow and pain and longing and agony and knowledge. Human eyes.

Her eyes.

For the first time in two years Jayne felt his face shift, felt his teeth retract, felt his brow return to normal. He rose to his knees, wrapping thick arms around her fragile frame, burying his face in the exposed skin of her stomach.

For the first time in two years Jayne felt human.

He breathed in the scent of dried blood and stale clothing, old sweat and medication. And there, underneath it all, was the faintest hint of cinnamon and vanilla. He clung to her like a lifeline, his daughter's foot resting on his shoulder.

For the first time in two years he felt whole.

The crew watched as the family reunited. Jayne stood, arms still wrapped around his wife, picking her up and taking her with him. He moved slowly out of the cargo bay, as if she could break at any second, disappearing up the stairs and through the doorway.

There was silence in the cargo bay like nothing they'd ever heard before. Suddenly a wet, choking noise came from Simon. It was a laugh, one filled with tears of pain and joy, relief and agony, celebration and rage. He sunk to the floor, taking Kaylee with him, and one by one the crew felt their own emotions rise to the surface.

Their children began to creep down the stairs, their babysitter still frozen against the railings as they moved silently towards their parents. Jack was swept up by Inara, who Mal immediately wrapped his arms around, burying his face in her thick hair to hide his tears. Marina crawled into the lap of her father, who was sobbing hysterically at getting his sister back from that hellhole, and Kaylee kissed her daughter's head as happy tears streamed down her face.

Jason and Derrial wrapped their arms around their parent's legs, Wash and Zoe sinking down to clutch their boys tightly. The Cobb boys stood to the side, wiping stray tears from their eyes. They had done it. They had gotten her back. The most powerful Slayer in history was once more safe. Marcus knelt beside Book, who was pretending that tears streaming down his face were not really there.

He smiled at the Watcher. "We got 'er back." Book nodded, his eyes looking off into space. "She's…she survived all that. She obliterated an army using only her brain and she still…she still cried when she held her daughter."

Book couldn't find words to express the kind of strength he'd seen in that broken, fragile girl. To unlock the darkest magicks the 'verse had ever created and still be reduced to tears at the sight of her daughter told him more about her then he'd ever known.

She was, without a doubt, extraordinary.

And there was something else. Someone who owed him a blood debt unlike anything the 'verse had ever seen. Someone who would die screaming. Someone who had taken their beautiful, brave, incredible girl and spent two years destroying her. Suddenly his eyes hardened as he stood, turning to face the crew, his voice deep and rough.

"We need to find Niska."


	26. Chapter 26

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Man it's been ages since we had some smut. I aim to correct that right now.

* * *

Jayne stepped down the ladder into his bunk. Lily was with Kaylee, drawing quietly while Marina played with her building blocks. He'd been forced to surrender River to Simon for a health check. He hadn't been able to leave her side the whole time.

Simon was nothing if not thorough. It was with tears in his eyes that he ran clinical hands over his sister's malnourished form, old bruises and fresh cuts. The scarring on her arms would likely fade with time, and slowly introducing more calories into her diet would help get her back to a normal weight range.

When he'd run his fingers over the scars on the sides of her head he had to pause for a moment to collect himself. River had raised one hand and placed it on her brother's cheek. "No power in the 'verse."

Simon had smiled weakly. He would have to access a scanner soon to see what else they might have done to her brain, but it could wait. The withdrawals were making her shake and shiver, and he'd ordered the hospital gown be stripped off her. The offending garment had been sent out the airlock by Mal, who had stood by the window and watched it float into space for a long time.

She was now wrapped tightly in a thick blanket as she perched on the infirmary table. Simon was measuring the Crymeth levels in her blood. They were high, far too high, even for a Slayer constitution. He located his pain killers, selecting a few vials of Luscapan to help ease her cravings. She had looked at him with flat eyes when he offered the syringe, shaking her head. Her voice was hollow. "No more." He wanted to argue, wanted to tell her that full Crymeth withdrawal was something violent and awful, but he knew there was no point.

The eyes told him everything. What could possibly be worse than the last two years?

He'd nodded. "We're going to have to monitor you, River. We'll need to make sure that they haven't done something we don't know about – if you think of anything, you'll tell me, won't you?" She nodded calmly, another shiver wracking through her body.

Simon had run a hand through her hair, pressing his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes as she clutched his head in her hands, neither saying a word. Jayne had turned his back to them, allowing them their moment. Simon's tears had run down River's cheeks, mixing with her own. He kissed her forehead and straightened, clearing his throat and wiping his face.

He'd looked at Jayne as the big man turned. "She needs to rest. Crymeth addicts don't sleep, they simply can't, and with a dose this high she'll be badly affected." Jayne nodded silently as he picked River up. If she thought it was silly that he was carrying her when she'd just destroyed any army of mutant hybrid monsters she didn't say a word.

He took her to the shower room, carefully holding her upright and rinsing the grime and gore from her body. She weighed too little, her bones were too sharp against his hands, he needed to get some food into her soon. But Simon had said that too much food would be as bad as too little, so he held his tongue. He stayed fully dressed, the water soaking is cargo pants as he helped his wife wash her hair. He held her away from him, not wanting her to feel his hardness, not wanting her to feel pressured into anything.

He carefully manoeuvred them into the bunk, placing her gently on the bed and kneeling beside her. She looked at him calmly before rising, allowing the blanket to slip from her shoulders. He struggled with the desire he felt looking at her. Even with her body malnourished and her hair wet from the brief shower she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. It wasn't about the body, it was who the body housed.

She stood naked in front of the mirror he'd installed for her a few months before Early stole her away from her family. She turned, taking in the jutting hip bones, the dark bruises, the ugly scratches. Her breasts were barely visible against her rib cage, her face gaunt and skin stretched taut over bone.

She turned to him, those dark eyes revealing nothing. "Does this body repulse you?" He shook his head slowly. How to explain? How to tell her that he was struggling not to take her, struggling to hold back the urge that had been consuming him since he first laid eyes on his dark angel of destruction?

Would she even want him?

She obviously caught the last thought, and raised a brow. The look was so very much like the old River he wanted to laugh. She tilted her head. "You want this body." He frowned. "No."

Her blank expression seemed to crumple at that, her eyes tearing up, and he stepped forward, laying large hands on her thin shoulders. "I want you, Riv. But ya ain't in any condition fer me ta be thinkin' on ya like that, ya need ta rest."

He tried to steer her to the bed but she held her ground. She tilted her face towards his. "Please." He shook his head, struggling not to look into those brown eyes, knowing that if he did he'd be unable to refuse. "No Riv, ya need ta rest. I ain't gonna hurt ya, _dong ma_?" She stood on her tiptoes, pulling his head down until his ear was level with her lips, her breath cool against his skin.

"Solace."

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Girl, ya can't do that ta me. I'm tryna be strong here." Her lips curved into a smile against his ear, and he was suddenly far too aware of the blood coursing through the veins in her neck, the heated tattoo rising to his ears. He struggled – that blood still flowed with Crymeth, and her body looked fragile enough to snap.

Then she laughed. That melodic, tinkling sound went straight to his crotch, making him hard a diamond.

He groaned in his throat. She dragged one hand down his chest very slowly, her sharp nails leaving thin lines of red against his skin. She cocked her head to the side. "Always looked better in red."

That did it. Jayne snapped. Two years of longing, searching, waiting. Two years of agony, of sleeplessness, of fantasizing about his dark goddess and her whisky brown eyes. Two years of pent up desire finally pushed themselves to the surface, and the result was immediate.

He snatched her up, holding her against the wall of their bunk. Her arms and legs were around him immediately, her lips curving into a smile. He kissed her. For the first time in two years he kissed his wife. Those pink lips parted and suddenly he felt his mind go blank as he ravaged her mouth and tasted her tongue.

He pushed one hand between them, stroking her, finding her wet and ready and hotter than holy hell. A bony hand deftly flicked his belt open, refusing any foreplay as she impaled herself on his shaft. They both stopped, the breath leaving their lungs.

Home.

That tight, wet slickness, the soft keening she made when he started to move, the fire in her eyes as he struggled to keep things slow, keep things gentle. She didn't want gentle. She wanted bruises caused by something other than pain. She wanted to mark and be marked, wanted the memory of the last two years erased. She wanted her husband written over her body, scribbling out the scars and bruises that signified her torture.

She wrapped her legs tighter and scratched her nails down his back. "More." He couldn't refuse, not when she was squeezing him so tightly it made his eyes cross. He began to move in earnest, pounding into her, her cries of pleasure and snarls of desire echoing around their room. He held her tightly, all too aware that he would leave more ugly marks on her skin, but her feral keens brooked no argument. He buried his face in her neck, relishing the smell, the feel of her cool body against his heated form. He fought back the urge to bite down, wanting to look into her eyes and see his wife, see River come apart around him.

She didn't disappoint.

Her cries increased as she began to crash around him, cresting and falling over the edge and dragging him along for the ride. No matter, he'd follow her anywhere. As he felt himself explode with two years of pent up sexual energy his mind went completely blank, seeing only the image of her eyes screwing shut, her lips forming a silent moan as she came.

As they came down, panting and exhausted, he felt her go limp in his arms. He turned and moved quickly to the bed, sitting down and holding her in his lap, still inside her. Her face was pressed into his shoulder, and he felt sobs begin to wrack her body as hot tears slipped down his neck.

When she finally looked up at him there was relief in her eyes, but there was also fear. He furrowed his brow. "What's wrong, baby-girl?" She sniffed. "Death, destruction, danger. How will they ever forgive her?"

He rolled them over so he was stretched over her, holding his weight on his elbows so he didn't crush her. "Ya got a scary ass warrior woman an' a clown, an angry Captain an' his ex-Companion, a mechanic who thinks the sun can't never stop shinin' an' a brother who went through hell ta get ya back not once, but twice. An' because o' you they got their kids back. Baby-girl I can't tell ya 'bout the last two years – we weren't gettin' by, we was barely survivin'."

She gave him a weak smile, tears still flowing down her cheeks. He sighed. "My whole life I ain't never loved somethin' the way I love ya. Ain't nuthin' ya can do ta change that. Don't ever doubt that. Ya gave me a home, made me a man, an' then ya went an' gave me a daughter. Without ya I'm nuthin', no doubt in my mind. Yer home – that's all that matters."

He stood, pulling the blanket over her. "Ya gotta get some rest an' I gotta have a chat wit' our crew." He didn't want to leave her, not after he'd only just gotten her back, but he knew there was still more they had to do. She watched him walk to the ladder, twitching as a shiver wracked her body. "Can I have my flower back?" Jayne nodded once. "I'll bring 'er down – time fer her nap anyways."

He turned to face her, a smirk crossing his features. "Didn' ya tell me once ya could kill me wit' yer brain? Guess we know it's true now, huh?

As he opened the hatch her voice sounded very small below. "You aren't afraid of her? You aren't scared after seeing what she did?"

He snorted. "Baby-girl, I ain't never been more turned on in my damn whole life."


	27. Chapter 27

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

Franz Hanson walked quickly down the street. The night was quiet, the air still, and there wasn't a soul in sight. Good – that's exactly how he'd wanted it. He'd chosen Barkmeade for exactly that reason – people respected your privacy. Even the air seemed willing to hide secrets. Tonight the mist swirled around the streets, blanketing the town, until he was largely walking from memory.

Nobody asked questions. He liked that, he didn't want to be asked questions. If the maid at the inn ever wondered why his doors were always double locked, she didn't ask. If the innkeeper heard his screams waking him up in the middle of the night, he didn't say a word.

Franz frowned. The nightmares were becoming a problem. Last night he hadn't been able to get back to sleep, shaking a sweating and shivering as he stared at the door, terrified of what may come through it.

_His army, his beautiful army, destroyed. The girl, standing in a sea of carnage, her crew staring down at her. He'd bolted, heading for the nearest craft. His bodyguards had been wiped out in the blast, leaving him alone. _

_Ancient eyes watching him, staring at him. A voice, sweetly innocent and childlike, echoing in his head._

"_Nisssska."_

The girl. It was all her fault. Such potential wasted, thrown away on a crazy woman. He sneered as he moved quicker towards the inn. He avoided night normally, but he had needed to sleeping pills, and the doctor hadn't been able to see him until late.

"Excuse me!"

He turned to see a lovely young woman with light brown hair run up to him, looking breathless and worried. He gave her an easy smile. "Yes miss?"

She smiled shyly. "I'm a lil' lost – can ya help me?" He nodded, looking down to the map she clutched in her hands. "I'm tryin' ta find the bakery, I know it's shut but I'm lookin' fer someone there."

Franz nodded politely, pointing on the map. "Here, take a left further up." He spoke carefully, avoiding some words in case they gave him away. She nodded gratefully. "Oh thank ya so much sir!" And with that she disappeared into the night.

When she vanished from sight he turned back to the road he was on, only to find it blanketed in mist. He could barely see in front of him and he held out a hand, trying to feel his way around.

He hurried along, ignoring the sensation of eyes running over him. He heard a sound in a nearby alley and paused momentarily, cursing the lack of street lamps, struggling to make out a shape in the darkness. The mist seemed to thicken even more around him, and he felt disoriented, unsure of where he was going.

He shrugged and turned back towards the inn. Only he couldn't. There was a man there. His skin was cocoa brown, his grey hair pulled back in a tight knot. His clothes were simple, black pants and tunic, and he held himself tall and proud.

His dark eyes were like black ice.

Franz struggled not to let his voice shake. "Who are you? Can I help you?" The man stepped forward. "Two years." Franz narrowed his eyes. "I beg your pardon?"

The man's voice was very, very calm. "I want two years. I want two years of agony, two years of pain, two years of torture. I want two years of your life, Adelei Niska."

Franz, or rather Niska, schooled his expression. "You must be mistaken – I am Franz Hanson, not zis Niska." He clapped a hand to his mouth as if he could get the accent slip back inside. The other man smiled humourlessly.

His deep voice stayed calm. "You took something from me, from us. You took her and you hurt her. You tortured her. You brutalized the most powerful being in the 'verse. More than that, you took one of our family. For two years you hurt her. And so, Adelei Niska, I want the same from you. As repayment, to settle the debt."

Niska shook his head, trying to look innocent. He took a step back, only to hear a low growl come from nearby. He turned and gasped. "Reynolds!" The Captain nodded, his first mate stepping out from the mist. The Niska's left another woman appeared, the same one as before, only now her sweetheart shaped face was filled with anger.

Another woman, this one beautiful and polished, stood at his right, along with a blonde man. Lastly a slim, dark haired man appeared. Niska recognised every member of Reynolds crew, and his blood ran cold as his heart began to pound heavily. Mal raised an eyebrow. "What, no hug? Seems ta me we've got an old score ta settle wit' ya. Ain't that right Zo'?"

Zoe nodded calmly, not bothering to take her Mare's Leg from its holster. "Right you are sir, seems we got a rather heavy debt that still needs payin'."

Niska began to babble, the accent he'd fought so hard to hide thickening as his fear grew. "Money, I haff money. Vhatever it iz zat you vant, I can give you. Anything." He turned as he felt a movement behind him. Book's eyes were blazing as he stared down at the snivelling man who had brutalized his Slayer.

He leaned in very close. "I want the last two years back, you son of a bitch."

Niska felt the fear clutch at his throat like nothing he'd ever felt before. His skin broke out in goose bumps at the rage in those eyes, in the eyes of the entire crew. Actually, not the entire crew. He wanted to look around to find Cobb but didn't see much of a point.

Book took a calm step back. "Unfortunately such a thing is simply not possible, we haven't the time. More importantly, the debt is not entirely owed to us. So I'll let her decide." The mist seemed to swirl up as the crew stepped back, disappearing into the night. Niska turned quickly, waiting, terrified as he spun in a circle.

When he got back to where Book had been standing he stopped dead. There she was. Her hair was brushed, curling softly over her shoulders. The blue dress looked like it may have fit once, but her form was as thin as it had been a week ago. Her feet were bare, her hands clasped in front of her. Even looking so thin she was still a far cry from the rabid, wild creature that had paced his cell at Niskatech. Her head was bowed.

As she slowly looked up at him he felt his blood freeze. "You haff to understand – it vas Wu! He's a madman, I vanted nothing to do with any of zis! You must believe me!"

Those cold, calm eyes gave no hint that she had heard him. Her voice was like cool water, again a far cry from the muttering, snarling animal she had once been. "A gift. A chance to fulfil the debt. A chance to take back some of the pain."

Niska felt relief flood his system as he turned. "Sank you, sank you, you are truly merciful."

At his words she turned back to him, her beautiful face amused. "She wasn't talking to you."

As she disappeared Niska heard the deep, rumbling growl behind him. He turned very slowly. Twelve red pinpricks were visible in the darkness, six sets of blood coloured eyes, and when the monsters stepped forward into the light Niska felt his throat close as the scream tried to escape him.

The quiet town of Barkmeade echoed with agony for hours.

* * *

Mal slung an arm over River's shoulders as they walked back to the ship. "Gotta hand it to ya 'tross, yer husband sure has a weird way of spendin' a Saturday night." She gave him a tired smile, the walk having used most of her meagre energy supply.

Book moved to her left side. "You did well, little Slayer, I'm very proud of you." He knew he should have felt conflicted at his part in Niska's destruction, but truthfully he'd wanted to destroy the man himself. The Cobb's, however, had a distinct way of dealing with such things, and he was more than happy to leave this is their capable hands. And teeth.

An agonized cry split through the night air as if to confirm his decision.

Kaylee, her arm linked with Simon's, smiled at River. "So, whatcha wanna do now sweetie?" Inara stroked a hand over her hair, relieved when she didn't flinch away. "Yes, I think the ball is in your court, so to speak. Maybe a holiday is in order?"

River looked straight ahead, to the ship that was their home, where their children were being guarded by the vigilant Badger and a set of booby traps that would put a guerrilla to shame.

A whisper through the 'verse caught her attention, and she stopped, listening.

Her voice was quiet, lilting. "Not over yet."

Simon sighed. "Yes, we still have Wu to find. But I think we can safely say that without Niska's facility and all of his files Wu is effectively useless."

River didn't correct him, he would see eventually.

Much, much later, the Cobb's returned to Serenity, looking tired but grimly satisfied. The debt had been paid in full. They were immediately sent to the shower room after Mal shouted at them for tracking blood across his cargo bay. Immediately after this they raided the galley, hungry after their bloody business. As his brother's hunkered down in the spare dorm they'd fitted with several bunk beds, Jayne rubbed a towel over his head.

His wife was on the infirmary lounge with their daughter. He couldn't always follow what they were talking about, largely because so much of it seemed to be unsaid, but he didn't need to. Their identical brown eyes were alight with pleasure when he entered the room, and he fought the choked feeling in his throat at the sight of his wife and daughter together, in the flesh.

He picked up Lily, who wrapped her arms around her father's neck immediately. His voice was a harsh whisper. "You were right baby – I jus' had ta believe." Lily gave him an eye roll for his trouble, as if to say 'duh'. He grinned at her, enjoying her little hands running through his goatee, stroking his human face rather than the monstrous visage he'd worn for the last two years.

River smiled as she followed him out of the galley to take Lily to bed. They tucked her into the bunk, each bending to kiss her forehead, her tired little face closing down with a peaceful smile. River took Jayne's had and lead him up the ladder, down into the cargo bay.

She was wearing that dress, the blue one that she'd worn when they'd first discovered one another physically, and he ran his hand over the fabric, pulling her tightly against his chest. In the last week he'd barely stopped touching her, unable to let her out of his sight for more than a few minutes. When she'd told him her plan he'd briefly wanted to argue, wanted to say he couldn't leave her alone, that he should stay by her side, but she'd shot him such a familiar glare that he couldn't refuse her.

Largely because they still weren't entirely sure the limits of her newfound power.

This was her present, she had said. She had allowed him to pour out the last of his rage, fury, agony on the man who had caused them so much pain. His brothers had been more than happy to come along, although they knew he hadn't needed them to help complete the task.

Still, family bonding was important.

The bay was dark but the stars of space reflected in her eyes as she looked up at him. Her body was still far too light, and she was struggling to fight off the Crymeth, but she was getting better. Simon said it could take months, maybe even a year, but she would heal.

The other day he had bought her a replacement wedding band. The other was buried somewhere in the wreckage of Niska's facility, and when he'd slipped it over her finger her eyes had filled with tears.

He pulled her to him, breathing in the scent of her hair, relishing the silk of her skin against his hand. They stayed like that for a very long time, not moving, not speaking, just holding each other.

As her hair brushed against his hand he swore that he would love this woman for as long as he lived.

She must have caught the thought because she pulled back, smiling up at him.

"Longer."

And damned if that wasn't good enough for him.

**The End**

**A/N:** Finished! If you're feeling a little sick of this 'verse then stop reading right here. But if you're still enjoying it, and feeling keen, then check out the epilogue.

Anyway, thank you so so much for taking the time to read this story, I really hope you've enjoyed it and I can't thank you guys enough for your generous comments and reviews. Suspending ones disbelief for a fic like this, especially when I seem unable to move it into the crossover section (don't ask me why, I'm just being inappropriately stubborn), is difficult, but you've done so again and again. You rock so very, very much.

Until next time Browncoats,

The Frisky Firelily


	28. Chapter 28

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Seriously – if you're over this 'verse don't read this! Sunshine does not refer to Kaylee, just FYI.

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

MIRANDA – THE RUINS OF NISKATECH

The hiding place had been secure as Daddy had said it would - she'd survived the destruction. Quiet like a mouse, shhhh. The hand that opened the door was pale and slim, much like the rest of her body. The tall, slender woman cast her eyes around the damaged room. No matter, Miss Edith told her she'd find what she wanted. She slipped inside, her dress trailing along the floor, the walls whispering their secrets.

She came to the cabinet. Inside was the file, just like Miss Edith said it would be. Such a good dolly. She opened it. Some of the paper was ancient, barely legible, but her sharp eyes made it out with ease. She smiled sadly at the ink sketching.

Her accent was sharp, the same cockney found on Dyton Colony and Londinium, although she'd never been to either planet. "Poor Daddy, so brief, so sad. Ashes to ashes." When she turned to another piece of ancient paper her eyes narrowed, lips forming a silent snarl. "Such a naughty boy, never listening to mummy, taking to the sunshine and running away."

Still, he'd left her a few gifts, even if he hadn't wanted to. No matter, she always found her Childe's presents. And these were extra special. Miss Edith said there were six treasures that should be hers, six precious gems to make a pretty crown for her. Big gems, strong.

She looked at a newer document. The girl stared back at her. Brown eyes, brown hair, it made her smile. She searched for another file, and pulled out a list of names. Contacts, liasons, associates. Links in the chain.

She ran a finger down the list and found what she wanted. Sugar and spice and everything nice. She smiled as she swept out of the room, moving towards the shuttle she had found. She would find her new friend; her new friend would help her. And then she would take what should have been hers. She flicked open the folder again, surveying the picture of the girl once more.

Shame. She'd always wanted a sister.

* * *

**A.N: **Ok I'll be honest – I may, possibly, have another sequel bouncing around my head. I just feel like the crew and their families have more stories to tell, and there are a few characters I'd like to see in this 'verse. Besides, River has kinda been a bit loopy and fragile in this one, I wouldn't mind seeing her being a badass once more. I dunno, thoughts? Feelings? Opinions?

At the very least there will definitely be a few one shots for our extended crew and their little ones. Hope you all have a wonderful week, look forward to hearing your thoughts. Giant sweaty merc hugs (or petite ballerina fighter hugs, depending on which way you swing) to you all!

The Frisky Firelily


End file.
